


Kittens

by sephcounttheways



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-11-24 09:01:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 88,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sephcounttheways/pseuds/sephcounttheways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sephiroth and Cloud don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies. CloudXSephiroth MPREG</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a conversation that every male homosexual couple has at least once.

"Wouldn't it be fun to have a baby?" Cloud asked one nondescript evening, lying in Sephiroth's arms, still covered in cooling sweat and panting slightly from an especially passionate session of lovemaking.

"You'd get fat." Sephiroth warned.

"You'd have to be home more." Cloud reasoned.

"You'd have to crap it out."

"You'd stay with me though... right?"

Sephiroth nodded and whispered romantically, "I'd be there to point and laugh at you for the rest of your life."

Cloud rested his head on Sephiroth's chest as the conversation had drifted to other, more realistic plans. What did they want out of life? Sephiroth wanted to die in battle. Cloud wanted a pool. Sephiroth wanted to retire from his position in ten years. Cloud wanted to take a vacay to Icicle Town. Sephiroth wanted to murder a royal. Cloud wanted to finally make it into SOLDIER. The conversation drifted further until it fell apart, become two sets of snoring.

It was the sort of exchange of useless, but individually important information that was easily forgotten about. And yet one year later Cloud found himself thinking back to it while floating in a place of near sleep, of almost dream. His mind wouldn't let itself completely go, because Sephiroth had been gone for weeks on a mission, and he was finally returning tonight.

Cloud heard him come in, waking from light rest as a dolphin comes to the surface for air, searching for what he needed and lacked. He rolled over to face the door, waiting for the man who would bring an end to his month-long marathon of living alone in the world.

He smiled in the dark, listening intently to the dropping of baggage and the unraveling of gear. He saw the echo of shadows play in the hall when Sephiroth flipped the kitchen light on, heard his groan of disdain or perhaps laziness, and then sudden darkness as light was flipped off.

Sephiroth's tall silhouette crossed the doorway, slow and quiet. He closed the door behind him tenderly, obviously trying not to wake Cloud. He walked to stand in front of the open closet, his usually brisk footfalls shuffling softly.

He would have loved to watch him undress in the dark like a voyeur, but it had been too long, and Cloud couldn't stand it for one more second.

"..Sephiroth!" He whispered joyously.

The General took a pause, his own version of jumping into the air like a startled cat, and then continued unbuttoning his coat in silken motion, "You're up."

Cloud sat up in bed sleepily. "I could smell you coming in."

Sephiroth grunted, "I guess I need a bath, then."

"No. You smell good. Like...you, " Cloud told him, settling back against the headboard, "I missed it. Missed you."

Sephiroth turned and stood in the dark, outlined by slits of white light from the window, "Did you?"

Cloud smiled, "Yes, Sir."

Sephiroth's coat slipped down his shoulders and hung off of his frame before he shrugged it to the floor. He removed his belt with the faintest hint of care before letting that fall as well. He didn't bother unsnapping his suspenders, simply swayed out of them with a tilt of his head, and after a short rip of his zipper in the dark, his pants drained off of his body to pool around his feet.

Cloud began to shift up to his knees, preparing to beg like a dog at the dinner table, when Sephiroth said, "Don't move."

Cloud stopped, looking at Sephiroth in wonder.

"Sit."

Cloud drifted back down, blinking.

Sephiroth took a step towards the bed, and paused, maybe even hesitated, as though he needed to think. He then continued, coming to a stop at the foot of their bed.

Cloud was worried. Was there bad news? Did something go wrong on his mission? His entire behavior was abnormal, and it was evident in his light, breathy respiration, his hesitance to get into bed, the slightest hint of insecurity in his demeanor.

"Sephiroth?"

And then, Cloud heard a noise that he had never heard before. Sephiroth shushed him. It wasn't the shrill shush of an uppity librarian. It was a long, low, sensual note. Soft, almost musical to Cloud's ears. He felt himself relax against the headboard, waiting.

Sephiroth put one knee on the mattress, the mere shifting down of the bed enough to tease Cloud's senses as it pulled the comforter, sliding it across his lap just slightly.

Sephiroth's other knee joined the first, again tugging the blanket covering Cloud, again igniting anticipation in him, and an almost frantic brand of anxiety. Something was different, and this was a new territory, a different sort of behavior for his usually domineering lover.

Cloud watched as Sephiroth's palms joined his knees on the mattress, and he stopped on all fours, almost posing, the green glow of his eyes lighting his face in the dark.

Oh, how Cloud had missed that handsome, angular face. He had missed those eyes, that mouth, that nose. He had missed that hair, that skin. Terribly.

He drew in breath to speak something tender to his lover, but the eyes narrowed, "Don't talk."

Cloud whimpered, now past wonder and into full on wierded out, "Se –"

Sephiroth shushed him softly again, and Cloud found his lips slowing and stopping at the erotic sound.

Sephiroth put an arm out, and moved the opposite knee. And stopped. Then put the other arm out, sliding the opposite knee forward on the bed.

Slowly, Sephiroth crawled toward Cloud. As soon as he was in a reachable distance, Cloud put a hand on his face briefly, before Sephiroth turned it.

"Don't touch. Not yet."

Cloud's hand fell back next to him on the bed, as the only thing he was apparently permitted to do was breathe.

Sephiroth reached out and pulled the blanket down off of Cloud, revealing his body slowly. His obvious arousal was no surprise to either of them as it tented beneath his flannel sleep bottoms. Long fingers tucked into the waistband, and Cloud lifted his hips and moved his legs to be rid of them.

His hair fell forward over his shoulders as Sephiroth pressed his lips to the top of Cloud's foot. Everything about it took Cloud's breath away. Sephiroth never usually let his hair fall over his shoulders, it was always behind him, or perhaps twisted over one as he sat, but it cascaded in silver streams over the mattress, and over Cloud. And to see the man he loved and admired kissing his feet? Cloud's eyes rounded with shock.

Sephiroth's lips dragged slowly up Cloud's leg, pausing at his knee to flick his tongue around the protruding bone, then made a series of soft, warm kisses up his inner thigh.

Cloud was trembling by the time those lips reached the juncture of his thigh and the delicate skin of his testicles. He drew in a sharp breath when they kissed over the light blonde downy hair there, and he was emitting needy sighs by the time the kisses had worked to the top of his confused, but rock-hard erection.

Sephiroth took his time, wetting the head with his tongue, flicking it over the thick vein, lapping the entire length base to tip before descending upon it. Cloud moaned as the silver hair shifted, tickling his stomach and thighs as the precious head of his lover bobbed on his cock, taking him all in and suckling wetly.

Cloud gasped in appreciation when his green eyes drifted up to look at him, his full lips framing the thickness of his length, his cheeks drawn in slightly. After a few breathless moments, the head emerged from between Sephiroth's lips with a wet swirl of his tongue, and he pushed up on his hands, putting his face close to Cloud's, seeming to be sizing him up, inspecting him.

Sephiroth's knees moved across the mattress until he straddled Cloud, looming above him, seeming to have a million words on his lips that he just wasn't saying.

"Se – ?"

Again, Sephiroth shushed him.

And again, the watery, supernatural sound made Cloud shiver, and his cock twitch in anticipation. Cloud inwardly sighed, because if Sephiroth was in the mood to tease, as he obviously was, it might take hours before he'd finally feel his lover inside him, relieving him. The best thing to do was to obey, and so Cloud resolved to just shut the fuck up.

When Cloud's lips stopped moving and pressed together in obedience, Sephiroth's fingers brushed his face. He turned into the touch, pressing against the strong, warm hand. Sephiroth leaned forward, looking down at Cloud through the thick curtain of his eyelashes, letting their noses brush, their foreheads press together, their lips linger parted and near, both men feeling the slightly labored respirations of the other.

Finally, Sephiroth's warm lips touched Cloud's, pushing his pink lips apart and open, his tongue slowly sliding its way into the patiently waiting mouth. When Sephiroth kissed him, Cloud felt like he was freefalling. Sephiroth always had that way with his kisses, they transported Cloud to somewhere shadowy and sensual with only the touch of his lips and the slightest flicking of his tongue. Cloud did his best to keep up, savoring the badly missed taste of him, relishing in the warmth and intimacy of their mouths making love.

Then, it happened. So slowly, that the transfixing kiss almost concealed it. But then again, it happened so quickly, there was nothing he could do to either help or stop it.

Cloud jolted as if he had been hit by lightening, realizing that he was now buried inside of Sephiroth. He trembled in naked shock but Sephiroth didn't move, didn't make a sound, only sat on his lap gazing down upon him.

A few frantic moments passed where there was no noise except for Cloud's deep, harsh panting, when Sephiroth softly spoke.

"Touch me."

A sob caught in Cloud's throat as his arms shot up to circle the tall man on his lap. They held his waist, feeling the hard muscles of his back and sides, drinking in every bit of sensation that Sephiroth had to offer, and yet trying almost guiltily to ignore that incredible heat, the almost painful tightness.

He was inside Sephiroth. The very thought made him double over against him, "Oh, Seph! G-god..! Honey..." He stammered, putting his face to the strong, hard chest almost in shame.

There was a trickle of silver teasing Cloud's chest as Sephiroth rose halfway to his knees, silent as he usually was during intimate moments. He brought his long arms up, and slowly wrapped them about Cloud's shoulders as he came back to rest against his lap.

Cloud's trembling fingers gripped Sephiroth's back, his lips helplessly scattering kisses across Sephiroth's chest and collarbone, the mismatched lengths of their torsos preventing him from reaching his lips again. He craned his neck up and moaned, begging to be met halfway.

Looking at the display of naked want for a moment, enjoying it, Sephiroth then bent down and gave what Cloud asked for, as he always eventually did. He pushed his soft, calm lips against Cloud's trembling ones, stilling them before pulling away, letting them stick together and slowly peel apart.

Cloud stammered, petting Sephiroth's hips as if in apology for doing something terribly wrong, "Seph, w-we didn't prepare... y-you... didn't use anything... lemme –"

Sephiroth again emitted the low, soft noise that calmed Cloud, stilled his nerves, and ceased his worries. His hands stopped gripping and instead smoothed. His mouth stopped spewing that senseless apologetic bullshit and glided along Sephiroth's skin, his lips leaving a warm, wet trail.

The sound came out again, and Cloud looked up, his eyes full of only desire and no troubles. Sephiroth didn't need to be told to relax, to breathe, to take it in slowly, he always was the stoic one in bed, never rushing or working too fast for the sake of a snappy climax. He liked to fuck slowly, thoroughly, completely, no matter what his little blonde begged for.

He took his sweet time, rising to his knees to let Cloud's virgin cock slip almost all the way out, then take him back in to the balls, pushing against his hips to get as much as he could. Sephiroth rolled his hips on Cloud's lap, biting his lip as he felt the blonde's heartbeat pound through the cock inside of him.

Cloud knew by now that the real show during sex with Sephiroth was on his face. As silent as he tried to keep himself, his features always revealed a very different side of the story. And now, Sephiroth looked almost anguished with his brows furrowed, his tongue snaking along his lower lip in concentration, the sealing of his lips together to suppress any unwanted noise.

Cloud knew it had to hurt. How could it not hurt? But the way he rode, the fluttering of his thick eyelashes, the intoxicating feel of being inside... it was easy to just... not care.

So what if it does hurt? Cloud thought suddenly, his fingers digging into the round, chiseled ass that was never in such a grab-able, convenient location before. But then he immediately regretted such a bitter thought against his lover. For every time Cloud had been mercilessly and thoroughly drilled, there were five dozen more where he had tears rolling down his face from sheer, raw pleasure. He couldn't stand the thought that this might not be giving Sephiroth the same sort of satisfaction he was given time and time again. Cloud smoothed his hands up Sephiroth's back, and vowed to do just that, to make it good, to make it count.

Sephiroth sucked in air through his nose when Cloud's hips thrusted off the mattress. Just once, just to see if Sephiroth liked it. Or to see if he would get smacked. His blonde eyebrows and wet, blue eyes turned up innocently at the electric green ones that narrowed slightly... but not exactly in warning. So, Cloud put his hands on the mattress and pushed up again, this time maintaining his air time, rolling his hips slowly, guessing at what Sephiroth might like, searching for the delicate button that was sure to be waiting inside of him.

To his amazement, Sephiroth didn't use his weight to force him back down onto the bed, he let Cloud move inside of him as he willed. And when Cloud found it, pushing his cock into it, Sephiroth moaned.

Cloud gasped back up at him, almost whimpering. It wasn't a clipped moan. Sephiroth let it play out, let the sound fill the space between them. Cloud let his hips settle back down on the bed, and then he thrust up again. And again, Sephiroth moaned.

The General pushed his mouth to Cloud's, seemingly not in attempts to dampen his cries of pleasure, but to feed them to Cloud, letting them fly into his mouth for him to swallow, to keep.

"Fuck me," Sephiroth hissed down at him.

Cloud began to do just that, listening to the beautiful music that he never knew Sephiroth could make. Feeling the rhythmic slap of Sephiroth's neglected cock between them, he settled one hand behind him for leverage, leaving the other available. He wrapped his fist around him and stroked slowly, firmly base to tip, just the way he liked to fuck, while Cloud thrust up fast and hard... the way he liked to fuck.

And like a beautiful picture of willowy perfection, Sephiroth arched against him, his long torso flexing, his hair trickling over his shoulders, his mouth parted in submissive, wordless pleas for more.

Cloud almost laughed. He could so get used to this!

As if Sephiroth sensed this, his sensual moaning halted and waned down to more characteristic growls, and Cloud bit his lip before picking up where he left off. He gasped and moaned loudly into Sephiroth's strong chest, his tongue flicking out at the tiny, hardened nipples before him.

Then he felt a small smack on the side of his head. Sephiroth didn't usually like his nipples bothered, but Cloud thought he could at least try, as everything else was reversed for this unusual night. It was no great loss, because Sephiroth leaned down to busy his mouth, his tongue trying for last minute dominance, and Cloud could sense that urgent need. So, while he fucked Sephiroth's ass, he let Sephiroth's tongue fuck his mouth. The mix sent him throttling towards the edge, and the steady pulsing of Sephiroth's cock in his hand told him that his lover was near as well.

Cloud nipped at Sephiroth's lips, then dared to snarl up at his superior, "...Come for me."

At that, Sephiroth straightening up all the way, looming over Cloud as if he could scrape the sky, bracing his hands on the headboard above his head, "...Make me, you little bitch."

Cloud smiled as he growled and twisted Sephiroth's cock, wringing it hard and thrilling at the harsh gasps that Sephiroth presented to him, almost spoiling him on dominance. Digging his aching hand into the sheets behind him, he shoved all if his weight back on it, and began to fuck Sephiroth with earnest, loving the slap his balls made against Sephiroth's previously untried ass.

The long, powerful body shuddered as Cloud worked him over, throwing his slim hips up at him until he reached a fever pitch, unable to fuck any harder, and unable to last another moment.

Just as he was teetering on the precipice of ecstasy, ceasing to care if the larger man was ready or not, Sephiroth threw back his head and gave a growling roar that sent dark chills through Cloud's body, gassing every inch of his brain with a smug, thick pleasure.

He watched Sephiroth come, his heavy cock shooting a thick load across his chest, then pooling hotly around his hand. Free falling into sensory overload, Cloud brought both hands forward to grasp Sephiroth's ass, holding him close. He manhandled the General, forcing him hard up and down on his aching cock until he gave a shattered, guttural cry of release. His cock pulsed and draining up into the tightness that surrounded him, Sephiroth's heavy breathing causing his insides to pulse softly, to milk him. Cloud collapsed back against the headboard in exhaustion.

Pitching is damn hard work.

But Sephiroth had none of it, and grabbed him up, holding him. Cloud let himself be held by his love, feeling the strong arms grip him as if one of them might fly away. Sephiroth shifted, letting Cloud slip out of him.

Thick tears rolled down Cloud's cheeks. He wasn't sure why he began to cry, or when, perhaps his entire body needed release after that unbelievable experience. He was hosed down by emotions; amazement, awe, and startlingly fierce love. He wondered if Sephiroth had ever felt this way when he himself had the grace to open up to let him inside.

Cloud sighed as long fingers tickled up the flushed skin of his neck, and burrowed into his sweat-damp hair.

Then pulled his head back sharply.

Cloud gasped and swallowed, looking up at his lover with large, apologetic eyes.

"I hope you enjoyed that..." Sephiroth said dangerously, accusation and a nasty sort of humor sparkling in his eyes, "...because that is the only time it's ever going to happen. Got it?"

Cloud nodded, blinking his silly, reverent tears away.

Sephiroth's fingers loosened their grip, then petted, smoothing his hair down. It was as close to an apology as Cloud knew he would get, and nuzzled into the touch.

Then Sephiroth asked, "... Did you enjoy it?"

"I kinda figured this was a one time only deal," Cloud grinned shyly up at him, and bit his lip childishly, as though he had done something naughty, "...so I made it count."

Sephiroth chuckled and pressed his lips to Cloud's damp forehead.

Cloud caught his lips to kiss them, then pulled back, "…Did you enjoy it?"

The perfect angel's mouth swished to the side in thought, then parted to say, "I'd say it counted."

A/N

1- MPREG! You heard me. In all caps, bitch.

2- Hey flamers, don't flame me. Because I'm a flamer, too. And Cloud's a flamer. And Seph's a flamer. We're all flamers who like to fuck and read about other flamers getting fucked, or else you wouldn't be reading this to begin with. So who cares which flamer fucks whom? As long as we're all flaming and fucking and the world is spinning on the proper axis.. why bother getting uptight about shit? (This might be the most profound, or most idiotic thing I've ever typed. Cheers!)


	2. 14 Days

"G..General?"

"Yes?"

"Do you.. want a bite?"

Sephiroth's eyes flicked from the sandwich to the cadet holding it, "What is it?"

The young man reminded Sephiroth of Cloud upon their first interactions. Stammering, small, red faced. He swallowed, obviously embarrassed to be conversing with the General over something so insignificant, "T-tuna."

"Tuna. Do I even like tuna?"

The cadet's large brown eyes flicked to both sides, then his narrow shoulders slowly came upwards in a shrug.

Sephiroth stared at him for a moment longer, wondering why he had been shrugged at when he realized he'd just verbalized that thought out loud. Before he thought to feel slightly out of sorts about it, his eyes drifted back down to the sexiest sandwich he had ever seen in his life.

Flaky texture. Pinkish meat. Smaller bits of something else mixed in. Pillowy bread, the teeth indents making it all the more enticing. Sephiroth's nosed twitched slightly as he took in the scent of it.

The cadet didn't dare move one inch. He didn't dare.

But sitting in the Shin-Ra building cafeteria with the General of the entire army looming tall behind him and glaring almost viciously at the food in his small hands, he suddenly burst into a fit of rambling, "Sir, if you.. are hungry.. I uh, I actually have a peanut butter one, too. You can have it. I mean, I already ate half of this one, you can have the whole one and I can finish this one. So you don't have to eat something I already took a bite of because.. I might have germs. Not that they could possibly affect you, Sir, they're just cadet germs. But if you want this one you can totally, um, take what's left. I'll eat the other one. You can have this one. You can.. have it." He then gave an unsure little sighing laugh and closed his mouth.

Sephiroth stared at the food for a few more moments before murmuring, "No, thank you."

The cadet's eyebrow lifted, "Uh. O-okay then.."

Sephiroth's eyes never left the sandwich as the cadet clutched it to his chest and flitted away.

Tuna. Sephiroth blinked.

"I don't even like tuna." He sighed restlessly.

"Who does?" Came a voice from behind.

Sephiroth made a face at another useless, unimportant that slipped from his mouth, and turned to the voice to find the smiling face.

"Don't be mad at me." Zack said, smiling naughtily.

This was a very typical preface for the first class SOLDIER. Sephiroth usually burned at his edges when his friend and colleague said this, because it usually meant some sort of nonsense bullshit was afoot. But Sephiroth found himself feeling curious, almost peaking with friendly interest.

"I won't be mad!" Sephiroth smiled, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips.

Zack's eyes narrowed, "..Who are you?"

Sephiroth laughed, sucker punching Zack's arm lightly. Zack looked at his arm in disbelief, then suspiciously back up at the General.

"I'll ask again before I scream for help.. Who are you?"

A scowl quickly replaced the vapid, open expression on Sephiroth's face, "Knock it the fuck off, Zack. What happened?"

Zack whooshed in relief, then immediately scrunched like a naughty puppy that had chewed up a roll of toilet paper, "..I ruined a nuke."

"..How?"

"I accidentally punched in the wrong code.. and it was deactivated automatically…"

Sephiroth's face was a blank white mask before he exhaled, and chuckled, "That's at least ten million gil of our combustibles budget up in smoke. Isn't that ironic?"

Zack's eyes widened in horror as Sephiroth strolled away, arms swinging as he went.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The thing Cloud remembered feeling, more acutely than anything else due to the marijuana, was how cold it was in Nibelheim that night.

He hadn't been home in over two years, and the dry mountain chill had already been forgotten in favor of more humid climates. In Midgar it was still what Cloud considered late summer weather, but back home he could see his own breath at midday.

The chill was just a lame excuse to justify staying indoors at the inn. He felt like he was hiding, and that's because he was.

Tifa wanted his SOLDIER manjuice.

The most recent letter from her made it clear, as well as the echo in his mother's letters, sweetly looking forward to dark haired babies in 9 months. Tifa Lockheart had requested Cloud Strife, and his mother gave him to her. It wasn't up to him; the women were hellbent on procreation, and maybe even romance if the seed was strong enough to take on the first try.

This was how things were done in Nibelheim. All he was expected to do was ejaculate. He'd head off for more war, she'd tend to the babies they made whenever he was in their neck of the woods. He'd send money home, she'd send pictures. When the children were grown and gone, and Cloud too old to fight, they'd take his mother's house and do whatever old people did. Argue, plant shit in the garden, sit on the porch and shoo away kids, then die, thrown in the same plot as if they loved each other.

It was just how things were done.

It was humiliating.

He liked how people in Midgar made families. The two fall in love, they prove their love, then they make love. Something special and surprising takes place at that point, something small and soft takes root. It was love, not some sort of symbol of success.

Cloud was hiding because it would have taken very little to convince him to impregnate Tifa that night. He did want children. He wanted them very badly. And he felt shame for not feeling honored that the most beautiful girl in town was offering that to him.

But what he wanted more than children was romance.. the chase.. courting. He wanted to be in love, and therefore knew that he could never have a family and love at the same time.

Because Cloud was a big old 'mo.

To his surprise, he had grown not only accustomed, but to greatly enjoy being hazed and manhandled in the army. His first kiss had been stolen on the training field, his first caress fleeting and slippery in the shower. And a shared sleeping bag on an overnight survival exercise had left Cloud with very little desire for the female persuasion. The rough lips and touches of that older boy had electrified Cloud. Maybe it was the stress of his entire life all coming to a head, maybe it was just the right moment to go a little bit out of his mind, or maybe it was the taboo of letting another male cover him, heat his blood, spread his legs and settle between them as if he were a girl. For whatever reason, Cloud and that boy rode each other until wet heat seeped through their fatigues, only to abruptly shove each other away and never learn each other's names.

That wasn't love of course, not by a long shot, but it gave Cloud a sense of.. direction. Perhaps even a budding sense of identity. Maybe even something like pride. While he was far from the only soft, feminine man at headquarters, and very far from the best looking, he finally had the confidence to actively begin searching… for a boyfriend.

Someone to kiss, hold, and when the time was right, have.

But he spared his mother this information, and instead pointed out the major loophole in the match contract. Tifa wanted little SOLDIER babies, and he hadn't made it in.. yet.

And so, Cloud made his mother promise not to tell anyone that he was going to be in town, because everyone would find out he had not made it into SOLDIER, Tifa would have the right to tear up the contract, she would receive no little dark haired grandbabies, and instead would earn a reputation as the mother of a liar. He also voiced that he wasn't ready for children, as he wasn't a man yet. The letter was lengthy and dripping with bullshit, and his mother had agreed to wait.

The minute he got into SOLDIER, he would be expected to come home and take his wife.

Cloud had no intentions of doing so, and would tell her when the time came. He would make it into SOLDIER. He would find a loving boyfriend. And Cloud prayed to God that would be enough success to make his mother forget about hypothetically brunette grandchildren.

The boy could hope.

But Cloud had found that Tifa, snarky town gossip, manjuice, and boyfriends were far from his mind as he sat in the inn, shivering under the hand sewn comforter and staring at the trees blowing in the wind.

It was the second night that the General had left them all to their own devices as he barricaded himself in the haunted house. The mission was over, they had done what they set out to do. So why were they still in this freezing hellhole?

Zack came lumbering into the room, and instead of removing his clothes and gear, he got into bed fully dressed, and shivered loudly.

"Are we leaving tomorrow?" Cloud asked, trying not to sound as bitchy and impatient as he was. Even though they had fallen into friendship, Zack was still his boss, and the reason for the delay was his boss' boss, too supreme to even be called a mere boss. He was untouchable.

"Maybe," Zack sighed, "I don't know what's up with him. He won't even talk to me."

Cloud frowned, "What's the General doing in there?"

"Reading."

"Still?"

"Well, now he's reading and pacing. So at least he's getting restless. Hopefully he'll snap out of it soon."

Cloud sighed lengthily. He wanted to continue his boyfriend search, not hole up in Nibelheim Inn trying to convince himself not to fuck a childhood friend.

Suddenly, Zack suggested, "Why don't you try talking to him?"

Cloud said nothing, only breathed and blinked.

Zack shamelessly repeated himself, "Why don't you try talking to him?"

Cloud looked over, confused, "Oh, are you talking to me?"

"No shit, blondie!"

"Why would the General say anything to me?"

Zack hummed, "Well.. you're on this mission too. It concerns you. Maybe he'll tell you something more than he's telling me."

Cloud made a face and waved as if Zack was ridiculous.

"C'mon. Go see if he'll tell you what he's reading."

"No."

"It's an order!" Zack declared merrily.

Cloud threw him a glare then rolled over in bed.

Zack sighed, "Too bad. And to think.. sitting on my desk back at HQ.. a form just waiting for me to fill out names for the accelerated second-try program. Hmmm!"

Cloud rolled over, "..Really?"

"You were going to be first on my list. But I'd never dreaaam of recommending someone who disobeys direct orders.."

Cloud shrieked with joy and leapt across the space between their beds to grab Zack's hair and make a bigger mess of it.

"And now you've just attacked me!" Zack bellowed, "I would never recommend someone with such disrespect for superiors!"

Cloud grumbled with a smile, getting up and pulling on his uniform pants, "Okay, okay.. so .. what am I supposed to say?"

Zack shrugged, "I don't know. I've never seen him like this. I don't even know what to think."

Cloud pulled on his jacket, his scarf, and perched his helmet on top of his head, "If I piss off the General, I'm taking you down with me."

Zack sat up to pull his shirt off over his head, "You won't. Worst that'll happen is you'll be disgraced. No sweat."

Cloud whimpered as he checked his face in the mirror, pushed his helmet down to hide it, and left.

The mansion was haunted, there was no doubt about it. Cloud found himself crossing the open gate with great difficulty, his knees actually wobbling slightly. He made his way up the path to the front door, which was held open with a loose brick from the foundation.

He peeked into the vast foyer, the only evidence of life being fresh footprints in the thick dirt and crud covering the marble floor. He thought of General Sephiroth. The man had the courage to open this door and walk inside, alone.

Alone. He was in there all alone. The General surely needed no protection, but still.. nobody wanted to be in the Shin-Ra mansion all alone. That thought propelled Cloud's legs to pass the threshold. He took his helmet off, holding it against his chest like a teddy bear as he turned its small beam light on, the weak little spotlight only making the rest of the place seem more dark and haunted by comparison. Cloud pointed it towards the floor, keeping an eye out for obstacles as he unconsciously stepped inside the largest set of boot prints.

They guided him across a cavernous ballroom, through hallways and doorways, and down a spiraled staircase. The only thing that kept Cloud moving forward was a small pinpoint of flickering light, the only thing keeping him from running back was the notion that he'd have to turn around and walk through all that darkness again.

He reached the stony walled basement and peeked inside, finally finding the source of light he'd been searching for. There were lamps set up here and there, flickering in time to the silence that laid thickly over the room.

Cloud swallowed, his throat tight and dry as he whispered, "General Sephiroth?"

There was no reply, so Cloud shut off his little helmet light to conserve the battery and set it down near the doorway before venturing a bit farther into the room, coming into the circle of light from the darkness of the stairwell.

He looked at the high stacks of books littering the floor, recalling that the General did not let Zack look at any of them. Curiosity piqued in Cloud, but he did not touch anything.

"General?" Cloud instead called softly again, trying to create the perfect amount of noise that would not wake a sleeping man, but might catch the ear of a reading man.

He moved further in, to a cul de sac with a desk in the large room. He put his fingertips near the flickering flame of the oil lamp, warming the gloved appendages.

He put his hands in his pockets to conserve the warmth, then sighed in the silence and turned around.

Cloud wailed loudly, then put a hand over his mouth, while the other clutched at the frozen block of ice that used to be his beating heart.

Sephiroth was standing right behind him holding a stack of books. Not moving, not blinking. Just standing there.

It was the most horrifying thing Cloud had ever seen.

One side of General Sephiroth's face twisted up into a sneer, "..Problem?"

Cloud giggled behind his hand, hating himself for that particular reflex, "I apologize, General, Sir. You.. scared me."

"What do you want?"

Cloud straightened, his fingers drifting away from his face, "I.."

Sephiroth didn't wait for him to gather his words for a proper response, he dropped his armload of books on the desk, then moved around it to sit in the chair, a puff of dirt settling to the floor beneath him. He opened the top book and leaned back, crossing one leg over his knee.

Cloud turned back around to face him, clearing his throat of all high pitched octaves before saying, "Zack sent me to see if you needed anything, Sir."

Sephiroth turned a page, but didn't reply.

Try as Cloud might, he couldn't take his eyes off the man. He was beautiful beyond all comprehensions of logic. It was a thought Cloud had never let himself indulge in, as the General was a man who deserved respect, strictly and without question.

But the subtle movements from the flames begged for his beauty to be noticed. Cloud took the cue, and for a long moment could only let his eyes feast on the fair General.

Green eyes lifted from the page, slowly finding Cloud's.

"Your problem must be a staring one."

Cloud closed his mouth, licked his dry lips and then said, "I'm sorry, Sir.."

Sephiroth's eyes shot back to the page.

"But.."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and moved back up.

"..Do you mind if I stay a while?"

"Why?"

Cloud already figured the General's opinion of him was damned. It didn't matter anymore, "I'm hiding."

Sephiroth sighed, "From?"

"Well, if you recall, Sir, I'm from here. Nibelheim."

Sephiroth's mouth became an impatient line, "What are you hiding from?"

"My wife, Sir."

The line of Sephiroth's mouth became thinner, "..Why?"

"I.." Cloud frowned, "I didn't agree. To the union. So I'm hiding from her. That's the other reason why I really came here, to ask you when you're planning to move us out.. I don't want to hide anymore, Sir."

Sephiroth turned the page, and softly said, "You should never hide. From anything."

Cloud nodded, "Yes, Sir. It just.. feels too difficult to deal with."

What happened next was a bit fuzzy to both of them.

Cloud remembered buying cigarettes in the hotel lobby, and offering Sephiroth one, trying to be somewhat suave and conversational.

Sephiroth remembered the fact that marijuana was legal in Nibelheim, and decided to indulge in one last human act before giving himself to Mother.

Cloud, at this point in their shared future recollections, would slap Sephiroth's arm and claim to have not known that the cigarettes weren't merely tobacco.

Sephiroth never believed him.

They both remember this part :

Cloud was lying on the floor with a perfectly cigarette shaped blunt between his lips, smiling up at Sephiroth, who was leaning against a bookcase.

"I don't get tits. I just don't get them. What.. what are they, General?"

Sephiroth squinted, momentarily baffled, "I.. think they're made of.. milk?"

Cloud coughed, "Whatever. They're weird. I love cock."

Sephiroth took a long, slow drag, "..Me too."

Cloud looked up at him in a portrait of shock, "You're ….gay, General Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth threw back his head and laughed, although it was more like a dark-sounding bray. Something rattled in his chest and he coughed, then laughed some more. It took Cloud a moment to realize that he was laughing, too.

"Ohhhh, shit. This is too much." Sephiroth said for no reason, putting out the butt of his cigarette on the wood, "I have to get back to work."

"What are you doing?" Cloud asked, lighting up a third.

"I'm…" Sephiroth stared into space for a long moment, then blinked rapidly, "I'm reading. About my life."

"Oh!" Cloud sang happily, oblivious to the world.

Sephiroth's face became a serious slate of white, ".. My mother was an alien. And I'm an alien, too. And.. I have to destroy this planet."

"I'm so hungry." Cloud blurted loudly, then rolled over, "Wanna get something to eat? I'm so hungry. What sounds good to you?"

Sephiroth blinked rapidly again, then declared, "Chips.."

"Chips sound so good! I'm so hungry.."

"Pie." Sephiroth said reverently, ".. Hash browns."

"I'm so hungry." Cloud repeated, quickly adopting the statement as his mantra and repeated it over and over as they stumbled out of the cloud of pot smoke that the basement had become, and left the Shin-Ra mansion for the 24 hour diner on the edge of town.

Sephiroth ate an entire cherry pie, while Cloud ate everything else on the menu.

The next morning, seeing Sephiroth up and about put the entire mission troop at ease. Zack was especially relieved, even hugging the General in front of the entire company. To everyone's surprise, the General hugged back.

As for Cloud, Sephiroth found himself hard pressed to keep away from him. Something about his presence soothed and calmed him, and it had nothing to do with contraband.

Try as they might, even with a hypnotize materia, they couldn't remember what went on between an unraveling General and quaking cadet, to two slightly stoned men enjoying each other's company. It didn't matter, though.

The love just came that easily.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I don't need anything but a fucking sandwich, Cloud. Tuna on bread, let's go." Sephiroth commanded, then added a small grumble of, "I'm so hungry."

"You know, if you want something specific you only have to ask. You don't have to be so grouchy. Now shut up!"

Sephiroth's handsome face scrunched into a scowl at being told to shut up. But he just tapped his fingers on the table and watched Cloud's back from the table as he bustled around.

It was actually a treat for Cloud to be able to prepare something that Sephiroth actually wanted. Usually the man had a distaste for food, claiming that it was merely energy or some other nonsense. No pasta dishes, rarely bread, never anything overly processed. And desserts? He wouldn't dream of touching them and always scolded Cloud for his sweet tooth.

So Cloud smiled and set the plate in front of his hungry man with a small kiss to his temple.

"What is all this?"

Cloud's face fell slightly, "You said you wanted a tuna sandwich.."

"Nothing else, though." Sephiroth said slowly, "Tuna on bread, that's all I asked for."

Cloud looked down at what he had prepared. The sandwich had the crusts trimmed off, a few leaves of lettuce protruding appetizingly from within, a pickle and a heaping handful of pretzels.

"I just thought.. I just tried to make it a meal. Sorry. I'll make you what you want." Cloud reached out to clear the plate and fix the order when his wrist was caught.

Sephiroth pulled Cloud into his lap, and held him with an abrupt tightness that made the blonde blink in surprise.

"You give me so much.." Sephiroth breathed into his hair, "..always. Why do you do that?"

Cloud's eyes drifted closed as Sephiroth pulled his head against his shoulder, cradling him. Outright shows of affection weren't unheard of.. but were rare. And Cloud always drew up tightly inside of himself, not wanting to shatter the delicate balance of the universe that tilted Sephiroth in this direction.

Cloud pressed his nose into the soft skin of his neck, "Because I want to."

"Why?"

"..Because I love you."

"I love you, too.." Sephiroth stroked Cloud softly but his voice was suddenly all business, "Do I show you that I love you enough?"

Cloud sighed in smitten contentment, "All the time."

"Is it enough, though? Am I enough for you?"

"Yes," was not a very poetic response, but it was all Cloud could think to say. He wriggled into the hold, sighing happily and marinating in romance.

The tuna sandwich splattered against the floor in a firework of broken glass and pretzels as Sephiroth threw Cloud onto the table.

"Seph!" Cloud cried in surprise as one of Sephiroth's hands snaked up his shirt, and the other plunged into the depths of his pants.

"Now. Right now." Sephiroth rasped, yanking the fatigue pants down off of Cloud's legs and over his boots.

Cloud panted in both excitement and surprise before his two hands joined Sephiroth in the effort of removing the layers of clothing covering their skin.

The sweet and sour behavior as of late was interesting to Cloud, and certainly pleasurable. Sephiroth had been almost insatiable at times, taking Cloud with a screaming lust seemingly almost at random. It was jarring, but he threw it up to the stress he had been dealing with. Their sex life over the past 2 years had included dry spells, ultra romantic spells, ultra kinky spells.. it seemed to Cloud that they were in a frantic, needy spell. Sephiroth would calm down soon, and in the meantime, Cloud would enjoy it.

When Sephiroth's pants were quickly peeled back, his erection sprang up, already brightly flushed and needy. Cloud didn't touch it, because he knew Sephiroth well enough to know what he wanted. He pulled his knees up to his chest obediently for preparation.

Cloud watched Sephiroth absent mindedly take himself in hand, pumping to relieve the pain as he went to the refrigerator and opened it.

Cloud's eyes went wide, "Not the 'fridge! Cold!"

"Shut the fuck up." Was all Sephiroth said as he kicked it closed, a bottle of chocolate sauce in hand.

Cloud had never seen Sephiroth even touch that bottle. He bit off the cap, spat it across the kitchen, then tipped it back against his lips. His mouth worked slowly, tasting uncertainly while his eyebrows and nose scrunched in a look that read like disgust. Cloud was sure he was going to balk and spit it out, but instead he knocked it back for more.

He stalked back to the table, pondering another mouthful as he dropped a small dot of it onto Cloud's stomach. His tongue was warm, wide and flat as he licked it off.

"You make this shit taste better." Sephiroth said, hovering the stopper over Cloud's mouth until he poked his tongue out, then treated him to a squeeze of it, pulling him by the thighs to the edge of the table. He leaned down over him to join his tongue, lapping at the sauce on Cloud's lips and already forcing more out of the bottle and onto his body.

Cloud shivered as the cold topping hit his skin, then again at the hot tongue snaking through it. Sephiroth desserted his way down Cloud's torso, taking a few moments to bob his head quickly up and down the length of his now fully bloomed erection. He then forced the cold chocolate sauce mercilessly out to drizzle thickly between Cloud's spread cheeks, letting it pool at his opening.

He gasped and grunted at the unwelcome temperature, and then sighed in something like relief when Sephiroth's tongue heated it up and pushed it inside him, his fingers joining the effort to stretch him gently apart.

Sephiroth didn't take much time, and he certainly didn't waste any, quickly lubing himself with a small, heated handful of the chocolate, then pressing immediately against Cloud's candied opening.

Again, a change. Since their.. experience a few weeks back, Sephiroth seemed to have developed a taste for hard fucking, as he demonstrated by immediately pounding into Cloud, allowing no time for him to catch up.

"Honey!" Cloud called, almost in complaint. This sexually adventurous behavior was grand fun, but not when he was left behind. Sephiroth wasn't even trying to hit his spot.. and it felt a little bit like being used.

Sephiroth's tongue snaked out from between his lips to indulge the mixture of chocolate and Cloud's natural flavors that covered his mouth, pounding to a damn near orgasmic pitch, then suddenly stopping cold.

He pulled out of Cloud, his fingers almost reluctantly teasing at the now empty opening, then turned around and put a knee on one of the kitchen chairs.

"C'mon." He said, pushing the bottle of sauce into Cloud's confused hands.

Sephiroth bent over.

Cloud approached him like a lion in the wild, carefully resting his hands on Sephiroth's hips. They shuddered slightly upon his touch, and Cloud dug his fingers in, almost jubilant that he had another chance, another golden opportunity to please Sephiroth this way.

He rubbed a handful of chocolate sauce warm, then gently, slowly slid his fingers into Sephiroth. He was slightly surprised to find very little resistance, and almost no signs of either pain or discomfort. Instead, Sephiroth backed up into him, shooting a look of annoyance over his shoulder.

"C'mon!" He repeated fiercely, reached a long arm back to grab at Cloud's hip, pulling him closer, "I can fucking handle what you've got."

Cloud kissed his shoulder and gave Sephiroth what he wanted, shoving in all the way to his balls, and was greeted with a slow tremor that traveled down Sephiroth's spine and made his ass pop up.

He never even knew that Sephiroth could look so.. sexy. This kind of sexy.

Sephiroth had big bad master act down. The right brand of glare and a smack of his leather gloved hand was enough to break Cloud down into a being of sensation and desire. They both liked it that way.

But this va-va-voom, spread out, fuck-my-ass sort of sexy? Cloud wasn't even sure what to do with himself as he saw his own cock squeezing into that small opening, feeling it pull at him as he slid out.

He put a hand between Sephiroth's shoulder blades so he might stay in that revealing, provocative pose. Sephiroth immediately pushed up against the heavy hand in defiance, then glanced over his shoulder and realized what he was doing, and how he must have looked to Cloud. He watched Cloud's flushed, chocolatey face and arched himself lower, spreading his legs wider, giving him what he wanted and more.

The rest was a violent blur to Cloud of his balls pounding against Sephiroth's, of his fingers gripping his sweaty hips for some sort of foundation to keep his feet on the ground, of Sephiroth's beautiful, dirty mouth talking to him, pleading with him, his long fingered hands reaching behind to pull his ass apart for even deeper access. Cloud's frustration was the only string that kept his own shattering orgasm at bay; he couldn't fuck hard enough, couldn't get it in deep enough, couldn't shove himself fast enough. And he couldn't catch up with Sephiroth, who vehemently demanded more no matter what he gave. It didn't help that the chocolate was a horrible lubricant, messy, sticky, and distracting. Cloud actually reapplied it once, much to the rage of Sephiroth at being left empty for two entire seconds.

He didn't know when Sephiroth came, or if he did at all. He just knew when he himself couldn't bear it anymore.

"Seph! I can't.." Cloud hissed, his hands gripping and pulling at Sephiroth's thighs.

"Don't! Don't you dare!" Sephiroth snarled, his knuckles white on the backrest of their kitchen chair, "Don't you fucking dare!"

"Honey! Seph! I need to! I'm gonna.."

"Fucking pussy! Fucking weakass little bitch! Fucking asshole!" Sephiroth spat and cursed violently, obviously possessed by Satan.

It bought him some time, though. But only a few more seconds. Cloud didn't know what else to do.

So, he smacked Sephiroth's ass.

"Harder!"

Cloud wasn't sure if he was referring to the spanking, or the fucking. Since it was physically impossible for Cloud to fuck him any harder, he brought his sticky hand back and slapped the rounded, white ass again, digging his fingers into it roughly, stabbing his short nails in and yanking Sephiroth's ass up into his cock.

And that was that. Cloud came in a thick, heavy gush that was exponentially more agonizing with every passing second, as he kept the ferocious pace for as long as he possibly could. He rode the almost manic bucking of his screaming lover, a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his hip for some sort of support, some sort of control. Finally, he collapsed onto Sephiroth's sturdy back, more than spent.

"Honey.." Cloud said, almost apologetically, then felt around Sephiroth's situation and paused.

His stomach was dripping with thick, gooey wetness, his cock soft and waning between his legs. Cloud sighed and kissed Sephiroth's cheek, who made the very rare, but much loved sound of gentle purring.

Cloud smiled, "..How many times did yo – ?"

"I don't know." Sephiroth sighed contentedly, shifting under him and nudging him off of his back.

When Cloud gave him room, Sephiroth stretched up, then immediately fell back down onto his knee.

There were a lot of changes to Sephiroth's behavior recently. The sex, the sweet and sour routine.. it all could have been explained away. Stress was a good scapegoat.

But Cloud had never before seen Sephiroth stumble. Ever.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked softly, "..Sephiroth?"

"I'm fine." Sephiroth said very confidently, "I'm just.. I'm hungry. So hungry. Where's that fucking sandwich?"

"Ruined. I'll make you another." Cloud promised, running his very sticky fingers across Sephiroth's almost stickier shoulders.

Then Cloud saw the shattered mess of glass and tuna on the floor.. the streaks of chocolate mixed with sweat and semen on the table and chairs. Not to mention Sephiroth's face looked like it had been punched with a pudding cup.

"After we take a bath." Cloud amended.

Sephiroth's bright green eyes were fixed on him, "..I'm hungry now."

Cloud squinted. Sometimes, Sephiroth could be such a big, fat baby.

So, the two of them sat in a bubble bath while Sephiroth scarfed down four tuna sandwiches covered in Cloud's chocolatey, semeny fingerprints.

A/N

1- Not making light of the Nibelheim crisis, but I think it all could have been solved with a little TLC. And some weed. And a pretty blonde cadet with a big mouth. That is the credo of every Seph/Cloud fangirl, I think, haaah.

2- MPREG!


	3. 35 Days

Cloud let himself into the apartment and sighed in relief of all that surrounded him.

Darkness, the scent of cleanliness and laundry, familiar energies and surroundings, and most valuable and precious of all – air conditioning!

Rumor had it that the newer SOLDIERs got the shitty missions, and Cloud was finding out that that was much more fact than fiction. The mission he had been on was in the middle of the fucking desert, stuck for a week outside in the middle of the summer. The sun had never even gone completely down to grant him and his squad relief from the heat or to offer a decent night's sleep. Cloud was almost in tears to be free, and was already gearing up to hop into bed and sprawl out to the four corners, as the General would be gone away on a business trip.

Cloud hated that their schedules sometimes overlapped like that, but he was pleased as punch for this occasion, as he fully intended on sleeping for at least 48 hours, a feat that would be made impossible by his lover's insufferable "Rise and shine!" early morning attitude.

He dropped his bag in the living room and peeled off his shirt on his way into the kitchen, and prepared to flick on the light.

"What's up?" asked a rumbling voice from the darkness.

Cloud screamed like a little girl.

He ripped the light switch up, and found none other than the great General Sephiroth, gloriously nude and leaning up against the counters with a pint of ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" Cloud yelled, severely damaged from the scare.

"I live here," Sephiroth pointed out before stuffing his mouth with more rocky road.

"Why are you standing in the dark?" Cloud sighed, still shaken but relieved to see his handsome, much loved boogeyman.

"Oh. I didn't realize it was dark," Sephiroth said thoughtfully before consuming another spoonful.

Cloud shook his head and wrapped his arms around his waist, opening his mouth hopefully. After a little sneer of disdain, Sephiroth shared a spoonful that was very generously loaded with nuts and marshmallows.

"Your trip got cancelled?" Cloud smiled after enjoying the coldness in his mouth and the warmth in his arms.

"Nope."

Cloud tilted his head back to look up at him, "Postponed, then?"

"Nope, I called out."

Cloud blinked, "You called out?"

"Well, I didn't call out. I called and told them to fuck themselves."

Cloud didn't laugh as expected. He just stared up at Sephiroth before finally asking, "...Why?"

"I didn't feel like going."

Cloud was still perplexed, "...Any particular reason?"

Sephiroth shrugged, digging in for more ice cream, "Tired."

"Alright, Sephiroth," Cloud said seriously, backing up a little, "I can't take this anymore. What's wrong with you?"

Sephiroth furrowed his brows, "What are you talking about?"

"You're acting really different lately. I mean... when we first met, there were some pretty fucked up things happening with you..."

Sephiroth would have sounded dangerous and serious if his mouth weren't full of delicious ice cream, "Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because… you got better. And then for two solid years you've acted a certain way. Now you're acting different. Is... are... well…. a-are you hearing ...voices?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Cloud was afraid of his mother. He couldn't figure out why for the life of him, but then he realized that everyone hates their in-laws, "No. I only talk to mom when I'm in Nibelheim."

"That's good. Have you had yourself checked out recently?"

Sephiroth growled, "No! I don't need to! There's nothing wrong with me."

"Well..." Cloud crossed his arms, "What's with the ice cream, then?!"

"What? I'm not allowed to eat ice cream?!" Sephiroth demanded, turning his back on Cloud in mock defense, obviously not losing any wind in his sails due to Cloud's concern.

Cloud grinned, putting his hands on his hips and turning up his volume, "Now you know the only goddamn time I've ever even seen you look at sweets is when you were stoned!"

"And when I was horny..." Sephiroth peeked over his shoulder, "...guess which one I am?"

Cloud hugged his waist, "C'mon, put that shit back in the freezer. I have just enough energy to sit on you and rotate."

And with that, Cloud made his way to their bedroom, stripping off the rest of his clothes. Sephiroth eyed him with hunger, then his rocky road with a different, but no less potent sort of hunger.

"...No reason to put it away…" he said to the empty kitchen. And only knowing the lights were on due to the electrical buzz from overhead, he shut them off before following with ice cream in tow.

The sun was already up by the time Cloud's hitched wails of sexual bliss finally died down into pleasantly exhausted little whirs of snoring.

And while he snoozed a perfectly good day away, Sephiroth found that he himself was totally wired. He drank his almost fully melted ice cream, chewing thoughtfully on the solid goodies that had sunken to the bottom, and then made his way into the bathroom to wash Cloud's various bodily fluids off of himself.

He stepped out of the shower, quickly toweling off and wrapping it around his waist before he paused at his reflection in the mirror.

And Cloud had been exactly right.

His nipples were pink.

Sephiroth stared hard at them, wondering if they always been pink..? He couldn't recall what color they had been before, but they were definitely bright pink, now.

And not only pink. They had suddenly become hardwired to his cock. Even as he touched them lightly in the mirror, it sent an electric little shock straight to his groin. He had all but smashed Cloud's face into his chest only half an hour before, not getting hardly enough of either his tight, wet heat, or the new pleasures his teeth and tongue could give.

Sephiroth then unwrapped his towel and peeked down at his genitals.

And again, Cloud was right on the money in his observations. Sephiroth's pubic hair had been fine, white, and wholly unnoticed for the ten years that he had possessed it

But now, it was darker, more pronounced, and suited to the very darkest streaks of silver in his hair.

Cloud's echoes of worry bounced around in his head, and he couldn't feign ignorance of the changes, not to himself. Not in the face of actual, physical proof.

But the fatigue, the ravenous, bottomless hunger, the keen pinpricks of blissful happiness and intense anger felt almost at random... it was all just stress! Stress, stress, stress!

Stress was his mantra as of late, he was eating because he was stressed, he was tired because he was stressed, he was… emotional because he was stressed.

But... there was nothing in his life that was bringing any amount of excess stress. They were sailing through a time of relative world peace, no high level monsters had appeared as of late, there had been no recent deaths in his army whatsoever, and he and Cloud couldn't get enough of each other's love and companionship.

There was absolutely nothing to cause such a disturbing level of phantom stress.

And there was no reason he should have been changing colors! A creature only changes colors at some sort of metamorphosis, a physical change in its life. His own metamorphosis was long over, the drastic change from boy to man. His voice had already lowered dramatically, he got bigger and taller, his balls had dropped, he began needing frequent sexual release, and the rest had been history.

Sephiroth frowned at himself, wondering irrationally if he was dying. The mental worry hunched him over slightly, and he paused at himself in the mirror.

He turned to the side, and stared in outright disapproval of himself.

"I'm getting fat."

As soon as the statement had finished bouncing around the bathroom, Sephiroth shook his head, huffing on laughter at his own behavior. He was perfect! Washboard abs! Buns of steel! Guns for days! Long legs that any other SOLDIER would kill to possess! He was General Sephiroth for fuck's sake, strongest man in the fucking world!

Worrying irrationally about getting fat was the sort of nonsense bullshit that Cloud indulged in. Sephiroth crossed his arms, tightened his stomach until he trembled a bit, and made a plan.

He'd exercise a little fucking self control!

No more succumbing to these random, strange mood swings, no more consuming every item of food in his path, and he'd get his ass out and burn off some of this excess weight by upping his training and fucking Cloud every chance he got.

When Super Sephiroth made a plan, he stuck to it. And he did.

Until one week later. He dropped to the field in exhaustion and didn't wake back up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth wrinkled his forehead in every sort of negative emotion imaginable. He could easily recognize the Shin-Ra medical lab ceiling anywhere – he had stared at the cracked, eggshell painted concrete for weeks at a time during his childhood.

He felt like shit. He smelled chemicals and medical yuck, he was angry at his unexpected surroundings... and he was very afraid.

Sephiroth sat up a little before pain caused him to fall right back down into the pillows. Pillows? This was a new thing to experience in the medical lab. He was completely surrounded.

Green eyes opened again to scan the room, and found that he wasn't only surrounded by pillows. He was also surrounded by flowers. And cards. And teddy bears. And balloons shaped like hearts and woundingly cute puppies.

Cloud, Sephiroth through to himself. Nobody else would dare.

"Fucking Christ," Sephiroth rasped for no reason in particular, shutting his eyes against the brightly colored sentiments and sitting up again, slowly.

The balloon floating around right next to his bed shifted with his air currents and bumped into him. He boxed it away with a grunt.

Just then, the door opened, something clattered to the floor with a messy sounding splat, and Sephiroth was aware only of a sharp ache in his stomach as he was grabbed and screamed at.

"Sephiroth! …When did you wake up!? …How do you feel!? …Sweetheart!" Cloud shrieked and cooed between flurries of tender kisses.

Sephiroth didn't know how to deal with it, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Cloud, I'm fine!"

Cloud could hardly breathe, "You've been asleep for two days! They said it wasn't a coma, you were responding to like, stimulus like a sleeping person but... Seph! It was almost three whole days!"

Sephiroth cast aside his grumpiness and held out an arm, "Come here."

Cloud gladly did, letting himself be held as he held Sephiroth, "...What happened?"

"I don't know." Sephiroth lied, "I was just doing what I normally do."

True to his plan, he had been eating nothing but three protein bars a day and training as if he were about to fight Apollo Creed. His body had cried out from head to toe in protest, but he was determined to get his life back under strict control.

Now he was in the hospital? Sephiroth was convinced that he was dying.

"Hojo didn't look at you," Cloud said into Sephiroth's neck.

Sephiroth privately rejoiced at that, but asked somberly, "Who, then?"

Cloud puffed out, suddenly very happy, "Dr. Aerith Gainsborough!"

"God..." Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Zack's girlfriend had finally sold enough flowers to put herself through med school.

Cloud laughed, and it sounded tired and weak, "She's been very nice..." Then he backed away, eyes burning in utter, blue seriousness, and hissed, "...They wouldn't let me in at first."

"What do you mean?"

Cloud laid his head against Sephiroth's shoulder, "I'm not your immediate family."

Sephiroth had to laugh a little, "I don't have any immediate family."

Cloud settled beside him, "They know that. They really weren't going to let me come in and see you... it was her that finally let me."

Sephiroth hated when things occurred without him. Cloud could be a little pushy diva bitch, but he could raise nowhere near the level of hell that Sephiroth could. He would have burned the place to the ground if Cloud was injured and he was denied access to him.

But it was all okay, now. Sephiroth relaxed back into the pillows and into Cloud contentedly, leaning his chin on him and drifting.

"No!" Cloud suddenly cried out, jerking Sephiroth back to consciousness.

"What?" he groaned.

"You've been sleeping for four days!" Cloud exaggerated pitifully, "… Don't leave me again."

"I'm here. Always," Sephiroth assured, squeezing him. "I love you."

"I love you..." Cloud cried, as if the balloons and flower arrangements and heart wielding teddy bears didn't express that enough.

They laid together, surrounded by dozens of get well trinkets and a forgotten mess on the floor from Cloud's tray of Jello and tongue moistening strips.

Sephiroth wasn't sleeping, but hovering in a state of mind that was so relaxed, he only opened his eyes slowly when there was a soft hand placed on his arm.

"General Sephiroth?" It was Zack's girlfriend. Sephiroth suddenly realized where all the stupid flowers must have come from.

"Yes." Sephiroth nodded, shifting a little under Cloud's dead, snoring weight.

"Hello. I think you know who I am, I'm Doctor Gainsborough."

"Hey Aerith.." he said, sitting up a little, wincing at the slight pain Cloud's weight caused him.

"Good morning!" She seemed happy to be referred to by her first name.

Sephiroth had had enough of pleasantries, "Tell me what's wrong before he wakes up."

Aerith's eyebrows raised a little, "Tell you what?"

"What it is. Just spit it out," Sephiroth gently commanded, his monotone kept soft and conversational as though he were saying something controversial around an infant.

Aerith cleared her throat a bit, and it was just enough to rouse Cloud's blonde head up. And seeing that Sephiroth was awake, and that Aerith was in the room, he quickly gathered himself.

"He's awake. Hello," Cloud mumbled.

"She can see that." Sephiroth growled with misplaced anger. He didn't want his only true lover to hear that he was about to die. He wanted it to come as a shock to Cloud when he finally dropped dead, so he would live his last days surrounded by his love, not his pity and fear.

But now it was too late. He turned back to the female and demanded, not trying to hide his anxiety, "Just tell me what's happening. How long do I have left?"

Aerith smiled, "About six weeks, I'd say!"

Sephiroth blanched slightly at such a small number. Cloud began to pant, looking between the two of them, "Six... weeks? What? Six weeks for what?"

Sephiroth put an arm around him to still him, "Don't panic, Cloud, she doesn't know what she's talking about. I am not dying in six fucking weeks."

"What!?" Cloud cawed.

"Oh, my! No! You're not dying at all!" And slightly surprising them both, Aerith slid down onto her knee on the bed next to them, "So you don't know then that you're..."

"Stressed?" he asked with a naïve sort of head tilt.

"Well... you're going to be... but what's happening to you isn't fatal. It's…" Aerith flipped through the pages of her clip board, then sort of hid behind it, her green eyes poking out over the top, "...I'm going to risk my professionalism by admitting that... I don't know at all how to tell you..."

"Tell him what!?" Cloud barked.

She said slowly, "...There's something inside you."

Sephiroth squeezed Cloud a little, more for himself then the trembling blonde, and spoke to Aerith, "Is it a virus?"

Her eyes winced behind the clip board, "...Bigger..."

"A parasite?"

"Um... not exactly what I'd call it, but you're getting warmer."

Cloud was livid, "You're supposed to be a doctor! Just tell us what's going on for fuck's sake!"

Aerith took a deep breath and put the clipboard back into her lap, "I… really, really don't know how to say it."

"Then bring someone in who can!" Cloud roared.

She looked up suddenly and shook her head, "I'm the only doctor on this project. And besides... I'm positive you don't want anyone else knowing this but me."

"Aha!" Sephiroth declared, crossing his arms, "It's an STD. Strife, you fucking slut."

Cloud was indignant, "Sephiroooth!"

"General, it's not that at all. Your bill of health is actually completely perfect. You just..." She shifted under the weight of their eyes, "You have things inside of you."

Sephiroth would have blanched if he weren't so pale already, "...Things?"

"Eggs."

Sephiroth and Cloud turned their heads to stare at each other. Cloud opened his mouth several times, only to close it again.

Sephiroth slowly turned to look at Aerith, unable to vocalize anything but a small, strained groan.

After breaking the ice, she regained a bit of her professionalism, "Five eggs. I did a non-invasive ultrasound, and... they're fertilized."

Centuries passed in the silence that followed.

Finally, from her clip board, she took out a plastic, black x-ray sheet and held it up. Against his will Sephiroth looked up to see vague, round shapes in what was apparently his gut.

He laughed. He laughed so long, and so heartily that Cloud and Aerith laughed a little, too.

"Get the fuck out!" he said, wiping his eyes.

Aerith smiled brilliantly, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"No, really," Sephiroth said, cutting off his laughter abruptly and pointing to the door, "Get the fuck out."

She straightened up, "Sephiroth, I've been researching your race for the past two days, fairly much nonstop..."

"Hold on! My race? My fucking race?" Sephiroth blushed angrily, "Don't say that!"

Cloud finally spoke, "... Aerith, I know that he's sort of... not human…ish. Are you saying that he can... reproduce?"

Cloud didn't even see it coming. He was knocked off the bed with a pillow so quickly that the word 'reproduce' was still rolling off of his tongue. He popped back up immediately, not even fazed.

"Try not to speak," Sephiroth suggested flatly to him, and his blonde head nodded obediently. Sephiroth then sneered at Aerith, "What did you happen to find out about my... race?"

"Not much, to be honest. But, from what I can tell from the part of Jenova's corpse we have here in Midgar..." She trailed off a bit as a fire lit behind Sephiroth's eyes, then regained herself a bit, "... Um. She was... is… very feline in her internal structure. You are, also."

She flipped again through her clip board, "So, I did a little research into the nature of mating of the larger cat species... and well. I want to ask you some questions, and see if we can get to the bottom of it all."

Sephiroth's eyes burned with hatred. She just had to say 'bottom', didn't she?

Feeling the need to attack, but having no ammunition, Sephiroth crossed his arms and glared at her, "I'd love to know what you're getting out of all this."

Aerith looked up, "Excuse me?"

"Cloud mentioned that Hojo hasn't seen me yet. You have something to do with that?"

Aerith smiled, "Sephiroth, Hojo completely gave up on you after you failed to reunite with Jenova. He knows you're here, but he passed off your care entirely to me out of disinterest. I already offered to show him my findings, and he wouldn't listen. So, I get you all to myself, and it's the case of my effing career!"

Sephiroth smiled angrily, "Already started writing your book?"

She nodded, "I changed your name to Cheech."

Sephiroth grumpily leaned back, "Fine then. I'll answer whatever you want."

She clicked her pen and began to take notes, "Sephiroth, think back to approximately five weeks ago. Where were you?"

"I was in Mideel, had been on a mission for about a month."

"Did you notice any changes in your mating habits around that time?"

Sephiroth's face didn't change, "... Are you asking me if I was in heat?"

Aerith cleared her throat, "I'm a doctor, General. Whatever your definitions of mating may be, has there been an overabundance? Had there been any changes? Anything strange at all?"

"Not that I can recall."

Cloud opened his mouth with a tiny intake of air, "Seph..."

Sephiroth's eyes darted to him, "...What?"

"…There was something different that happened about five weeks ago..."

Aerith smiled at him pleasantly, "Whatever you say to me will be kept in the strictest of confidence, Chong."

Cloud looked around nervously, clutching Sephiroth's hand, "… I penetrated him. That had never happened before."

Aerith focused on her notes, "And what brought it on?"

Cloud turned his eyebrows up, "I'm not sure, exactly."

"Was there a smell? Was there a sound? Was there anything at all to compel you to do that?"

Cloud wrung his hands, "I really don't remember. It was late... um... he had just come home…"

"Did he gnaw you?" she suddenly asked.

Cloud looked up at the ceiling, "Maybe…?"

"Pardon me!" Sephiroth cried, "I'm sitting right fucking here!"

She turned to him, "General, explain what happened. What did you feel?"

He took a moment to really think, "A forceful urge to have Cloud. That way."

Aerith leaned in hungrily, "Any reason why? Any strange thoughts? Did Jenova speak to you?"

Sephiroth's rumbling voice lowered to acidic tones, "I don't know."

Cloud added what he knew, "Seph has been pretty moody lately. Hungry. Tired. And he's been very... sexually interested."

Aerith's thoughts were faster than her pen could keep up with, "This is absolutely incredible. We might not be able to figure out why Sephiroth went into heat, but we know that somehow, he did. And judging just from how the eggs have developed in the mere two days you've been here, like I said before... something big is going to happen in about six weeks!"

"So there's not much time." Sephiroth agreed, "When's the soonest we can fix it?"

"Fix what?" Aerith asked, still writing.

"This problem," Sephiroth said calmly.

"You don't want ..." Aerith raised her head, trailing off in both words and writing.

Sephiroth smirked, "Sorry to cut your book short, doctor. Get them out."

"No!"

Sephiroth and Aerith both looked at Cloud, who visibly was trembling.

"What?" Sephiroth asked darkly.

"No, Seph... no..."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"We have to talk about this!"

"Talk about what?"

"Our babies!" Cloud cried.

Sephiroth grunted dismissively and looked back to Aerith.

Aerith put her clip board down, "Abortion in your case might be tricky, the eggs are being held in an organ that... well... doesn't exist. It's located about… here..." Aerith carefully touched Sephiroth's lower stomach.

"So, what do I need to do? Have someone punch my stomach or something?"

Cloud made a wordless sound of anguish, and Aerith did her best to ignore it, "I think that would be very risky. A punch hard enough to get through your abdominal wall would cause more damage to you than the eggs. Not to mention they could splinter off and lodge into your intestines. And it might not crack all of the eggs, because they're still quite small. I would strongly advise against that."

"What would you advise?" he asked nastily.

Her eyes flicked to Cloud momentarily, who had begun to cry in silence against Sephiroth's shoulder. She then said, "I would advise you to wait."

Sephiroth's voice began to rise, "Don't you get it into your stupid fucking head that by making me wait I'm going to change my mind. If that's what you're hoping, forget it. I'm not leaving this room until I'm normal!"

Aerith wasn't shaken by his tone, "The reason I'm advising you to wait is for the eggs to get a bit larger. That way, I can make a precise crack, with minimal damage to you. If we do the procedure now, there's a good chance it'll have to be repeated."

Sephiroth eyes narrowed and he quietly asked, "…What would the procedure be, exactly?"

"It would be makeshift, since you don't exactly have a uterus. I'm assuming you were impregnated analy, but I believe the quickest route to them is through your urethra."

Cloud began to make loud sounds of misery, which Sephiroth completely disregarded, "I've have plenty of catheters. I can handle it. I want it done now."

Aerith swallowed, then said thoughtfully, "...I suppose I could do it now. I'll have to prep you for surgery…"

"Surgery?" Sephiroth asked indignantly.

"Oh, of course..." Aerith nodded, "I won't have enough control to crack the eggs if the rod is inserted like a catheter. I'll have to cut your penis open at the base, and insert the scalpel into the urethra closer to the Doobie. Um, that's my own little term for your unnamed egg sack, heh. And like I said before, if I do this now, it might have to be repeated..."

Sephiroth was not a good actor, and his discomfort was apparent when he said quietly, "Perhaps it's better if we wait, then. So you can do this more efficiently..."

Aerith backed away with a smile, "Going by feline pregnancy patterns, they should double in size in one week. And... that's ample time for you to give this some real consideration..."

"There's nothing to consider. Am I well enough to leave?"

"Yes, sir…" Aerith said, twisting her mouth into a grim sort of smile, "You were only dehydrated."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth walked ahead of Cloud, which was not unusual. Cloud followed along behind him with a red face, which was not unusual, either.

There were several happy tidings greeted to the General, coworkers and staff and SOLDIERs and cadets and military personnel all overjoyed to see him up and about. But nobody dared to converse further than that as the two lovers stormed through the Shin-Ra building.

They both took separate elevators up to the executive floor, and they fell into step with each other when they reached it.

Sephiroth unlocked his office door and heaved it open, ushering Cloud through it and sending a warning glare to the floor secretary before slamming it shut behind him.

Cloud was leaning on a desk loaded with two day's worth of files and unfinished work with his arms crossed, looking small, seething, and surprisingly dangerous.

"Say what you're thinking," Sephiroth dared him.

"I want this."

Cloud had never feared more for his life than when Sephiroth took slow, quiet steps towards him. He put hands on either side of Cloud on the desk, trapping him there in a bubble of heat and drowning rage.

Cloud's senses screamed for him to shrink, to submit. But he knew if he did that, then somebody would die.

Somebody that was not him.

"What are you picturing, Cloud?" Sephiroth asked, "Do you see something soft and sweet, something that looks a little like you and a little like me?"

"…Yeah," Cloud admitted.

"You want babies," Sephiroth accused, tension edging into his voice and demeanor as he leaned closer to Cloud.

"You know that I do," Cloud whispered, not looking away, not breaking under this pressure, "I always have."

"Eggs. Eggs. Not babies," Sephiroth hissed. "Eggs. Get babies out of your mind, because that's not what this is. They're fucking eggs. Fucking monsters."

"No more than you are."

Sephiroth chewed on rage, almost shaking with the fever of it, "It's not going to happen, Cloud. Never."

Cloud licked his lips, catching the taste of his own tears, then finally asked, "Why... why can't we just... see what happens?"

"You don't get it? You don't understand? Are you that stupid?"

Cloud couldn't stop himself from pressing his forehead into Sephiroth's neck, embracing his anger as was his nature, "I never said I wasn't stupid, Seph. But I have a feeling about this."

Cloud's softness only infuriated Sephiroth further, and he shoved him away, backing off and into the center of the room, "If you're that fucking naïve... I have no use for you. I never did."

Cloud's tears flowed silently, "Stop blaming me! You wanted this, whether you realized it or not!"

"Get out," Sephiroth ordered, striding past Cloud, confident through the intense pain he felt in his insides, and sat at his desk, "I have work to do."

"Talk to me!" Cloud begged.

"I want you and your shit out of my apartment before I get home tonight."

Cloud's lips thinned into a pink line, and he slowly raised his eyebrows, too shocked to be heartbroken, "... Do you mean that, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth decided to ignore the question, "And if you tell anyone about this, I'll snap your neck."

Cloud willed himself to fade into non-existence.

But he couldn't. So he actually had to move his feet, to leave Sephiroth's seething aura of heat and fury, actually move his hand to the door handle, open it, and exit.

He had to do all of that while wondering why he had to so deeply and so completely love someone full of so much hate.

A/N

1- MPREG!!! HAA (do I need to include this note anymore?.. ah well! XD XD XD)


	4. 49 Days

"Mommy," Cloud had said softly, almost one year prior to the day, brimming with barely containable excitement when his mother answered the phone from Nibelheim. "…Guess what?"

"…Oh, Cloud," she whispered.

Cloud sobbed, "I made it this time! I made it! I did! I really did!"

Cloud was a SOLDIER.

All the joy in the world made audible wouldn't have sounded as beautiful as Cloud did in that moment. He cried out wordlessly, and eleven strangers in Sephiroth's apartment building looked up from what they were doing for a heartbeat, smiling at the victorious noise of a soul enraptured.

As any mother would say : "I am so proud of you. So, so proud of you, Cloud."

Cloud panted restlessly, "I want you to come visit me, mom! The ceremony is next Friday, I want you to come here before then, I have so much to show you!"

"Aren't you going to be visiting here?"

There was only a pinprick of negativity in Cloud's being, and he smiled broadly as he said, "Yes, but the ceremony! And... I just – I have so much to show you!"

There was a pause before his mother smiled from across the world, "Of course I'll visit you there. And you'll come back with me, then? Maybe for... oh, I don't know. A few days at least?"

Cloud's smile wouldn't, couldn't have been erased, but his voice wilted slightly. "I don't think so, Mommy…"

There was an injection of silence, before Cloud began to happily babble, "I mean, right after I get registered as a SOLDIER, I have to go to an orientation camp, and then I have to start mako therapy immediately after, and then I get set up with a mentor, and then I have training like you wouldn't believe! I'm just… I'm gonna be so busy, you see!"

"I worry about you, Cloud."

Cloud winced a little before sighing happily, "I have everything I've ever wanted. Why would you worry?"

"Don't you want a family?"

Cloud smiled, and it was a bit goofy as he chuckled, "I have a family! I have you, I have my friends, and I have... y-you know what they say, the military is one, big clusterfuck of a family!"

"That city… I'm sure it's changed you in ways, but you have got to remember where you come from, Cloud, and what's important to you. You have to hold on to your morals."

"Mom – " Cloud interjected, but was cut off.

"I know how boys are, and off on your own I'm sure you've most likely had many women."

Cloud's stomach turned.

"But you have someone here waiting for you. A nice girl. Those city girls might seem sophisticated, they might throw themselves at you for being in the army… but here is someone who chose you for you. I think Tifa knows best who you really are, don't you? She likes you for you, Cloud, wants to love you just for you. The real you. The one I love, too."

"But what if I don't love who I was?"

Cloud's mother didn't have an answer for that.

"You're happy, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded against the phone. "Yes. So happy."

"…How could I wish for more?"

Cloud's smile was blinded by unshed tears. "…Really?"

"However!" she barked, causing Cloud to blink to attention, "When you do finally find a nice girl – a nice one… know that I would greatly appreciate brunette grandbabies."

Cloud slowly let his eyes wander over the shirtless, lounging form of his lover, definitely not a brunette, and definitely not a nice girl. Sephiroth had been listening to the entire conversation with a lazy smile that promised no drama, no conversation, just a good, stiff fuck as soon as the phone was hung up.

"No promises…" Cloud had smiled.

"You were never good with them," his mother sighed. "And…honey, I wish you all the luck I can give. But, I just don't see myself traveling all the way to Midgar. I think I belong here. And maybe you belong there."

Cloud couldn't, wouldn't frown. But he kept the light out of his voice as he stated, "If you're disowning me, just say it now and save me some grief."

He saw the glimmer of lust ebb on Sephiroth's features, a slight shadow of concern.

"I wouldn't ever say something like that to you. After all, it would be impossible to disown a son who has abandoned me."

Cloud's joy finally buckled. "Ooooh, pleeeaase! I didn't abandon you, mom! I just want something different. You never asked me about Tifa, anyways. You never talked to me about it, you just assumed."

"Maybe you don't know what's best for yourself. You men rarely do."

"I love men, mom," Cloud finally blurted. "I love… a man, mom. With all my heart."

Sephiroth's eyebrows knitted. Cloud had never said this before.

His mother might have been saying things, and they probably echoed with disapproval. But Sephiroth slowly sat up on the couch, and Cloud was transfixed by the movement. He opened his arms, and Cloud's hand drifted the phone away from his ear, and right onto the receiver.

A choice had been made. Cloud chose Sephiroth.

Sephiroth was Cloud's family, from then on. Sephiroth had never had one before.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth dreaded what he would find when he went home. Despite this, he opened the front door casually, impersonally… petrified.

Boxes. Some were taped shut, some were open, half full.

Sephiroth stopped to look down into one, and saw Cloud's movies dumped in, along with some of the small knickknacks that he liked to have around. He looked in another and saw a pair of dirty socks balled up, a rats nest of electric cables for his various electronic gadgets.

Cloud's junk. He was actually packing.

He heard the rip of duct tape from the bedroom, and stepped around the boxes on the floor to find the source.

Standing silently against the door frame, he frowned at the scene Cloud had made of their bedroom. It wasn't the mess he frowned at, but rather the obvious anger the mess had been created with. Cloud emerged from the bathroom to put a full, taped box on a stack of three others, his clothes strewn in a large pile on the bed.

"I'm sorry you're home and I'm not out," Cloud said breathlessly, hoarsely. Sephiroth winced, as he recognized that slight hoarseness as coming from a long afternoon of crying. Cloud sighed, "I have more shit than I thought possible. I had to go down to the warehouse twice for more boxes. You'd think they were fucking gold or something the way they horde them. But, I just got a garbage bag for my clothes, that'll do. I'll tape up the rest of the boxes and then get them all out. It should be about another hour or so if you want to go somewhere until I'm gone."

Sephiroth leaned in the doorway as Cloud chattered and moved about the room, snatching this or that from shelves and from under the bed, speaking as if there wasn't the gloss of tears in his eyes.

"Where are you going?" Sephiroth finally had to ask.

"No idea!" Cloud laughed humorlessly. "But I think I might end up somewhere under the plate for tonight. I just want to get drunk and fuck someone I don't love, for once. I think that's the best place to meet those goals," Cloud began to hiss as he stuffed his clothes and SOLDIER uniforms into thin white trash bags. "Then tomorrow I'll see if Zack wants a roommate."

Sephiroth's heart ached over a lava flow of jealousy. He crossed his arms and looked past the careless words and frantically busy movements of his lover. "Cloud…"

The blonde froze at the soft tone and shot Sephiroth a glare that could peel paint, "What?"

Sephiroth stared at him, slowly shaking his head.

Cloud stared back. "I'm so sorry, Sir, that I don't have the ability to read minds, because I'm not sure what the fuck that meant."

Sephiroth sighed, "You don't have to go."

"Oh!" Cloud exclaimed. "You mean it? I can stay in my home? With a man who'd rather snap my neck than talk to me and discuss things that effect both of us like a grown up? Who criticizes everything I do, and who only shows me the slightest bit of affection when he wants something to fuck? I can really, really stay, Seph?"

Then, Cloud actually spat in Sephiroth's direction. He looked momentarily terrified at his own action, wiping his bottom lip carefully with wide watery blue eyes before going back to stuffing his clothes into bags in double time.

Sephiroth looked at the wad of spittle that had landed on the carpet near his boot in complete shock. He was too blown away by the sheer distaste one would need to spit in another person's direction to react, and to think his small, slight, loving partner harbored that sort of distaste for him…?

He didn't know what to do, what to say. He considered wrestling Cloud to the floor.

Instead he went with, "I want you to stop this."

Cloud stopped at once, and slowly put the box in his arms down. "Can you give me a reason? To stay?"

Pride burned in his eyes – or what Sephiroth perceived to be pride, they were only his tears, but maybe that was the same thing. As Cloud blurred and wobbled in his vision, he spoke clearly, "I have one reason. A reason and a half, rather. The whole reason is that I put your name on the lease two months ago."

Cloud reacted immediately, cooing before he could stop himself.

Sephiroth took it as a good sign, and softly continued, "And the half reason… is that…"

Cloud cut him off abruptly, "I'll buy myself out of the goddamn lease."

He turned to continue packing his things before he fell to pieces, hiding his face in his hands and sobbing. Sephiroth pushed off the frame and went to him, taking the items of clothing out of his hands, ripping them away when Cloud tried to yank them back.

Sephiroth took his wrists and put them around his neck. Cloud seemed to be a little repellent to the idea at first, but his venom quickly dissolved into a desperate embrace.

"Seph, I love you," Cloud whispered.

"I love you. I love you," Sephiroth whispered back. Then he said two very rare words indeed. "I'm sorry."

Cloud smiled through tears before veering his eyes away from Sephiroth, to the mess that he had made of their bedroom, the meaningless pieces of his life that had been scrapped together to be packed away, "Seph... Maybe it would be best if I did leave, maybe just for tonight."

"No fucking way," Sephiroth said, holding him tighter. "I need you here."

"Talk to me, then," Cloud demanded, his arms wrapped fiercely around his lover's neck.

Sephiroth set him on his feet, backing up a little to really look at him. "Can you please try to understand how… fucking horrifying today was for me?"

Cloud's eyes were vomiting tears. "Horrifying? How?"

The complete look of 'duh' was so out of place on Sephiroth's regal features that Cloud had to smile, but bite his cheek to snuff it out.

"I saw that. I don't appreciate it," Sephiroth whispered with a small smile, bucking his nose against Cloud's forehead.

Cloud put his arms around Sephiroth's thin waist, his own stomach turning at the idea of losing what might have been inside of him. "…Tell me what scares you?"

"Everything," Sephiroth answered without reservation or guard.

"We both knew you were different," Cloud said softly.

Sephiroth shuddered a little at the implications, that something as unnatural as this could have been in the realm of possibility for Cloud, that it didn't revolt him as it should have. "But this… it's too different. Too much."

He began to draw away again, but Cloud didn't let him escape this time, tightening his hold. "It is different… but don't you think it could be something wonderful?"

Sephiroth's expression said that he did not.

Cloud had to smile at the scowly pout, "What do you think? You have little aliens that are going to pop out of your chest?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "No, Cloud. That horrific thought had not yet occurred to me."

"Two weeks," Cloud recovered quickly, still not letting the General that had begun to squirm in his arms free. "Maybe Aerith will be able to tell us more?"

Sephiroth closed his eyes, "I don't want to know more. I want to be done with this, and forget about it."

Cloud then gripped him in a tightness that startled Sephiroth. His first year training for SOLDER was beginning to really show. But despite the rugged hold, Cloud's voice was the softly masculine coo it always was, "I want them, Seph."

"You don't know what they are."

"I don't care."

Sephiroth believed that.

"…I care, though. I feel that this is… a punishment."

Cloud sighed miserably, "Sephiroth! I never meant to punish you or hurt you!"

"Not you, fool. I feel like this is a punishment from my mother. For not being what she needed me to be."

Cloud blinked as he mentally worked through this muddy information. "But, I… don't see how she could punish you. She's… she's a dead fish, Seph."

Sephiroth sighed grumpily, pinching his nose at the old argument bubbling to the surface. "She's not dead. And she's not a fish, for fuck's sake. And it's very possible that this could somehow be her doing, her influence…"

"It still won't hurt to wait and see."

"Well, what if you're right? What if they are… chest popping aliens?"

Cloud said seriously, "Aerith will know long before anything could hurt you. We'll take care of it, in that case. No matter what, you're going to be fine."

The strength in that statement, and in Cloud's arms around him… Sephiroth knew that he was absolutely, head over heels in love with Cloud. He couldn't fathom anyone else having the talent to comfort him as he did, in his own unique little way.

"Maybe…" Sephiroth ventured, "Someday… we could think about having them another way. A normal, natural way. Like a test tube."

Cloud was moved. "Would you really want that?"

"I want you happy."

Cloud clutched him, only relenting when Sephiroth gave a small, barely audible squeak of discomfort. Then Cloud bounced a little against him. "Two weeks. No major decisions for two more weeks. Please?"

Sephiroth's jaw set, and he gazed beyond Cloud, his green eyes squinting in harsh, but level headed consideration.

Slowly, and only once, Sephiroth nodded.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There came a teensy little knock on Sephiroth's office door.

He hadn't the foggiest idea who that could have been. And right after a donut and coffee delivery?

"Come on in, Zack," he invited.

None other than Zack Fair carefully poked his head in. "…Morning.."

"What do you want?" Sephiroth asked easily, taking a big bite of a blackberry scone.

"Um…" Zack faltered, staring at Sephiroth's stomach before his eyelashes fluttered and his eyes shot to Sephiroth's face, where a dark scowl was brewing.

"Whatever happened to patient confidentiality?" Sephiroth wondered, snatching a krueler from the box before Zack tried to descend upon it.

Zack didn't descend, only covered a mouth with his hand, fully entering the office to lean on the door weakly. "…So it's true?"

Sephiroth bit into the pastry with a bored nod, inwardly finding himself deliriously happy this morning. Might have been the passionate, intense make up sex with his amazing, beautiful lover the night before. Might have been the feeling that he was completely harmonious with nature on such an early spring morning. Might have been the shining sun, the singing birds, the lovely sheen of dew.

Or the kruelers. He took a second one.

"It's true that I am currently having technical difficulties. That's all I'm going to say about it. And I'd appreciate if you would say even less about it, or that'll be the last thing you say, Zack Fair, so help me God." Sephiroth's usual venom was snuffed out slightly by the sugar on the corner of his mouth. He licked it away before daintily selecting a chocolate on chocolate with chocolate sprinkles.

He bit down – ohh! Chocolate cream inside!

Zack sat at the chair opposite his desk in astonishment, "Seph… are you… gonna have a bab – "

Had it been 24 hours prior, Sephiroth would have already driven every single writing utensil on his desk through Zack Fair. But it was different, this day. Different.

Sephiroth clenched his fist on his desk, anyways. "There's nothing wrong with me that's not going to get fixed permanently, and soon. Rumors about me are ugly enough as it is without the entire company knowing I have a parasite problem."

"She only told me, Seph. Nobody else."

"And how many people have you told?"

"Who would believe me?" Zack crowed, sparkles of amazement and humor lighting his eyes.

"True enough," Sephiroth grumbled around a cherry filled pastry. "But still. Keep your mouth shut."

Zack beamed. "What are you gonna name it?"

Sephiroth shot him a dry look, "I'm not going to name anything, Zack. I swear to Christ you thrive off of my disdain."

"Disdain, my ass. You're glowing!"

"And you're going. Get out!"

Zack leaned on the desk. "Did you… you just smiled!"

"It was the maple frosting," Sephiroth mildly defended, chowing down. "Out."

"I like this new appetite of yours. It's nice to see some meat on your skinny ass."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes again, "Now you're just making shit up, I'm can't gain weight. My body composition is specifically designed to maintain a perfect physique!"

"Riiight," Zack smiled, dipping his finger in a pool of chocolate cream, the only thing left in the carton that previously held half a dozen donuts. He left Sephiroth's office whistling.

Sephiroth huffed when he was gone, dipping his own gloved fingers into the rest of the chocolate residue and sucking it off. He was hungry from the severe case of rug burn he gave little Cloud last night, that was all.

Cloud… Sephiroth suddenly swooned, sitting back in his chair with sleepy, catlike contentment. Cloud, clawing him and arching up at him, generously allowing him to reassert his manhood in the most primitive way possible. Cloud, so beautiful when he was sweaty and sticky in those perfect moments of shameless need.

Sephiroth decided then and there to make it up to him, for the confusion, the fighting, the harsh words. He needed to do something special, preferably something to get both of their minds off of all of this mutant viral intestinal parasitic nonsense.

A vacation would have been ideal. But while time off would have been simple for him to request for himself, in Cloud's position of a new SOLDIER, a leave of absence was out of the question.

A gift would have been perfectly appropriate. But what? Maybe he'd like something shiny, like a nice, big sword. Or maybe something loud, like a motorcycle. Or maybe something expensive, like an island.

Or maybe he already had the perfect gift for Cloud. Something priceless.

Who thought that!? Sephiroth screamed in his head, jolted out of his reverie.

Nobody answered.

He pursed his lips before hitting the intercom. "Hey Susie. I'm out of here."

"Out of where?" his secretary asked in a bored, distracted sort of way.

"Here. I'm going home for the day," Sephiroth didn't leave it open for discussion.

He was tired. And hungry. And hot. Out the door he went.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cloud arrived home from training to a smell that was heavenly. As famished as he was, any smell coming from their kitchen would have seemed divine, but this scent was not only unexpected and appreciated, but truly delicious.

He peeked around the corner, feeling like a kid that had walked in on his parents wrapping up Christmas gifts.

"Don't creep around," Sephiroth rumbled from the stove.

"I'm afraid I've died and gone to heaven," Cloud dramatized, tracking in a little bit of dirt as he crossed the room to wrap his arms around Sephiroth. "What is this?"

"This just happens to be your favorite dish," Sephiroth informed.

"But I don't know what it is!" Cloud giggled.

"Well, it's about to become your favorite." Sephiroth untucked one of his arms from Cloud's embrace and wrapped it around his neck.

Cloud didn't even verbalize out loud how shocked he was that his beloved could cook, as it would have been a moot point. Over the course of their relationship, Cloud was well aware that Sephiroth could master anything he wanted to, usually on the first try. From things like card games and sports, to odd handyman tasks around their apartment, to mending a rip he had made while tearing off Cloud's favorite jeans. He'd often asked how long Sephiroth had been practicing a particular skill, only to get the blythe answer of, 'Never done that before'.

The Shin-Ra company party that year had been held at the Golden Saucer, Rufus shutting it off to the general public for an entire weekend so the army personnel and executives alike could run amok. Cloud was having a ball, but could tell that Sephiroth was bored.

Rides messed up his hair. The play almost put him to sleep. The food was gross. The training grounds were too easy. Sephiroth didn't complain out loud, but Cloud could tell he wasn't having any fun, so he decided to try and make his lover laugh by making a fool of himself on Dance Dance Revolution in the arcade. He'd chosen the easiest song on the lowest possible difficulty, and while he actually got a couple of the steps right, he'd bombed miserably.

But he had succeeded in making Sephiroth laugh, so he didn't mind the fact that he'd drawn a crowd of spectators to view his public mortification. Then, Sephiroth had astonished him and everyone by saying that he'd like a try.

"Have you played this before?" Cloud asked, fluffing up his hair so it wouldn't dry sweaty.

"No," Sephiroth answered, causing a wave of commotion through all that were present. People whipped out cell phones to take pictures and video, and to call over their friends to witness General Sephiroth make an ass of himself.

Sephiroth had gone through almost the entire list of songs before stopping at one he liked. It just happened to be one of the hardest ones on the game. Then it asked him what difficulty he'd like to play at, and Sephiroth had chosen 'Hades Spawn'.

Cloud balked, "That's really hard, Seph!"

"Oh," Sephiroth had frowned. When the arrows came flying up the screen, Sephiroth kept his hands in his pockets and stomped away. He didn't get a perfect score… but was pretty damn close.

"Ha!" someone shouted, drunk. "The greeeaat Seffffiroth isn't so perfect, afterallll!"

Sephiroth put in a few more tokens and chose the hardest song on the entire game on Hades Spawn mode. His intention to get a perfect score was clear. He took his hands out of his pockets.

The rest was YouTube history. Sephiroth got a perfect score, and the jeering drunk, who turned out to be Hollander, broke out from the crowd to worship him with cries of, "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"

While Sephiroth may have had a love/hate relationship with his own perfection, Cloud could tell in that moment that he really fucking enjoyed it. He asked Sephiroth later in their hotel room how he did it, and all he could come up with as an explanation was, "I slowed it down."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. But, I slowed it down with my eyes, like I do when I'm fighting and a lot of distraction is going on around me. I slowed down what wasn't important; the colors, the people, the arrows, and I focused on what was important – the beat."

It was one of the sexiest things Cloud had ever heard.

And surely, as Sephiroth grated cheese on two plates of whatever delicious meal he had been possessed to prepare, he'd have some sort of similar, supernatural explanation. I wanted to try out sucking culinary knowledge out of Betty Crocker's soul, perhaps.

Cloud ventured, anyways. "What made you wanna cook?"

"I wanted to do something nice for you."

No, that was the sexiest thing Cloud had ever heard. He hugged Sephiroth tighter, "Daww! I should eat you up, instead!"

"I won't stand in the way of that."

Cloud was entirely too smitten to remain on his own two feet. He hopped up to sit on the counter next to Sephiroth. "I can't wait to try it! What's in it?"

"Zack actually made it for me before, it's from Gongaga. Chicken Parmesan."

Cloud leaned on his palms, giddy as a schoolboy, "Let me guess; you knew all the ingredients and how to make it just by remembering how it tasted?"

Sephiroth only smiled. "I don't enjoy bragging. Anyways, it's done."

Cloud reached for a plate and put it in his lap, prepared to eat right there in the kitchen as they typically did. Sephiroth snapped his fingers at him when he opened the drawer between his legs and began to dig out a fork.

"What?" Cloud asked innocently.

"I thought we'd eat at the table like human beings," Sephiroth muttered, flowing out of the kitchen, but right past their little breakfast table, previously fucked on, but currently cluttered with materia and opened mail.

Cloud tilted his head, following Sephiroth with his plate.

They had a dining room in their apartment, but it was empty, and usually the place they stored their equipment, weapons, and bulkier pieces of their uniforms. When Cloud took the initiative to put a beanbag chair in the room for plopping down to undress on, they stopped referring to it as a dining room entirely, since it was somewhat dishonest.

But as he followed Sephiroth, slightly puzzled, he found that all the equipment had been cleared out. In place of the mountain of shoulder guards and old, mission dirty boots, there was an actual table. And chairs. And placemats. And napkins. And salt and pepper shakers.

Like a real home.

Sephiroth lit one of Cloud's scented candles that he usually kept in the living room, just by touching the wick. He sat with his plate, and looked up at Cloud uncertainly. "Like it?"

The table sat four people, but Cloud noticed that there was a divide through the middle of it, meaning there was another panel that could be added to make it larger. Fully assembled, it would be able to seat eight.

Cloud knew Sephiroth hated it when he cried about his own happiness. And he also knew that this could mean something wonderful, or absolutely nothing at all. His lover was always so difficult to read.

Deciding not to waste time crying or pondering, he sat next to Sephiroth instead of across from him. He curled a leg around his, and tried out his new favorite dish.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"This feels ridiculous," Sephiroth groaned, trying not to squirm under the freezing cold jelly that was being smeared across his lower stomach. His perfectly toned, flat stomach. 'Chiseled' would have been the perfect word for it.

Aerith had asked him to don a pair of drawstring patient pants, and they were rolled down far enough on his hips to make her blush most unprofessionally. He certainly didn't look inhabited by alien, body snatching eggs.

Sephiroth decided that Aerith was a quack. There was a high probability that this was all some huge oversight on her part. He laid his head back on the rough tissue covering the table and pondered the possibility that this was all a mistake that was about to be rectified. Maybe there had been nothing inside him all along.  
What a relief that would have been…

Sephiroth realized he was being spoken to, and came up out of his thoughts. "What, Cloud?"

"I said... are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm fine," he declared, staring at the monitor that would show what exactly the creatures inside him were, if they existed at all, and what they were planning to do to him.

"Okay..." Aerith beamed, in a hushed, reverent way. "Let's take a peek."

Childishly, Sephiroth clamped his eyes shut.

After a few long moments, he heard Cloud say, "Oh, Sephiroth…"

"Ng… What is it?" he asked, terrified.

Cloud reached over, and with two thin, nimble fingers, he forced Sephiroth's eye open. He stubbornly kept them on Cloud, who was gazing at the monitor with parted lips. Then he glanced over at Aerith, who wore an identical expression.

Sephiroth finally looked for himself.

So it was true. There were five eggs. They didn't just look like unidentifiable circles anymore, but actual, ellipsed eggs.

And inside each one, was a tiny creature.

Sephiroth squinted, sitting up on the bed, wanting a better look. Aerith carefully followed his movement with the transducer, making sure the image wouldn't be disrupted.

The creatures were only vague little shapes. But Sephiroth could easily make out large eyes, the beginning formations of legs, and tiny hands with even tinier fingers. There were three eggs completely visible, one somewhat hidden behind the others, and one nestled out of sight entirely.

To Sephiroth's astonishment, one of them actually moved. Inside one of the eggs, a little, half formed hand reached up behind where its' ear would have been, and it scratched at itself lazily. This seemed to set off a chain reaction of movement in the other eggs. The one closest to it stretched a little. The one next to that opened its' little mouth and appeared to have yawned.

Cloud and Aerith both gasped loudly.

"These things are humanoid," Sephiroth murmured, breaking the silence.

Aerith nodded, still watching although the creatures had all settled down into stillness once again, "Yes. They might look a little funny, only because they're still developing… they actually grew a little faster than I thought they would. But they're real babies. They already have their eyelashes."

Sephiroth squinted a little. "How can you tell?"

"See?" She said, pointing at one that had its eyes open. The tiny thing took that exact moment to blink, then roll over in its egg, turning around entirely and presenting its little rear end. Sephiroth could hear an echo of Cloud's tinkling laughter, but he was focused on a new revelation.

"Is that a tail?"

Aerith went quiet, and looked closely, "It might be… or this one is a big boy, already."

Cloud went close to the screen. "Well, I hope his peepee isn't growing out of his back!"

"Jesus, Cloud…" Sephiroth groaned. Peepee?

Then Sephiroth realized with a bolt of lightning that Cloud was already… attached. Both him and Aerith had seemed to forget that this was supposed to be an abortion. He watched as Cloud touched and tickled at the monitor, stopping to stroke his fingers at the top of one of their heads.

They were babies. With tails.

It should have been Cloud, Sephiroth thought furiously. If their roles were reversed, there would have been a moment of hesitation or fear on his lover's part.

However, at this point, Sephiroth couldn't deny his own curiosity. He felt himself eager to know what these things were, and what their purpose was. If they were indeed a punishment sent from his mother to kill him, or if they were something else entirely. But what?

"How big are they?" Sephiroth wondered aloud.

"Almost as big as a Cadbury egg," Aerith guessed.

"Where are they?" Sephiroth frowned, looking down at himself.

She looked at Sephiroth. "Well, the doobie is located right behind your penis."

Sephiroth balked. "How are they planning to get out?!"

Aerith bit her lip. "… There's a small tube connecting the doobie to your anus. That's how the impregnation happened..."

Sephiroth was glaring daggers.

Aerith shrugged a shoulder. "Er, the magic happened. And I assume that's how they're going to get out."

"I'll have to crap them out," Sephiroth stated blandly, wondering why those words sounded so goddamn familiar.

Aerith nodded. "It's the most likely answer."

Sephiroth frowned, "What about a c-section?"

"Wait," Cloud gasped sharply, clutching Sephiroth's arm, "So, we can keep them? We really can?"

Sephiroth looked at the screen. "We're watching them. If they get any weirder than they already are… then…"

One of the little creatures yawned again and turned itself upside down in its' egg, seeming perfectly happy to lie on its' head in a lazy pile of half formed limbs. Sephiroth couldn't not smile, and it was the first he had cracked all afternoon.

Cloud jumped for joy. "I'm gonna be a mommy!"

"What about SOLDIER?" Sephiroth asked point blank.

Cloud looked at the screen, pursing his lips before saying, "I'm only 18... I can take a couple years off, if that's what it takes." His blue eyes flicked back and forth over the screen. "Or I'll give it up."

Sephiroth stared at his lover for a long while before finally saying, "You'd give SOLDIER up?"

Cloud was resolute. "For our babies? Anything."

Spending a little time with the General had given Aerith the impression that he was a rather cold, callous, grating individual, always trying to knock everyone down into a position underneath him. She knew he treated Zack worse than dirt, but for some strange reason they called each other best friends. She saw that he treated Cloud like a bothersome child, and also for some strange reason, the beautiful, kind natured blonde looked at him as though he was an angel.

So Aerith was actually rather shocked to see Sephiroth grab up the smaller male to hold him, his long fingers delicately and affectionately weaving through blonde hair. She saw in an unguarded, emotional moment, a glimpse of the warmth and softness that Sephiroth gave Cloud in private. She could see what a gift that would feel like.

Sephiroth turned to Aerith, ending the tender moment by slowly disengaging from a swooning Cloud. "If I do finally decide to go along with this insanity… what can I expect? What's gonna happen to me?"

Aerith had a million possible responses, but she decided to tell Sephiroth the truth.

"I have no idea."

A/N

1- MPREG!!!!!! (Old horses; I beat them.)

2- I got fancy and googled the name for the little thingy that you put on a mama's stomach to see the baby. It's called a transducer, apparently! Wizardry!

3- See what I did, there? I sandwiched the drama in-between big slices of happiness. I'm sorry, I just don't like angst in big doses. I'm sure there are other fics full of rape and carnage and blood letting and scat that layer the negative emotions in heavy. That's not my way.


	5. 56 Days

Zack was called in by Sephiroth for a sudden conference. He didn't sweat it, anyone close to either of them knew that a "conference" between General Sephiroth and First Class SOLDIER Zack Fair usually ended up with a food delivery and not a damn thing accomplished.

He had found the office almost pitch black, freezing cold, and silent. Sephiroth was leaning far enough back in his office chair to cause Zack momentary concern about him crashing to the floor, but he somehow achieved perfect balance with his legs sprawled across his desk.

He was never one to question a surprise naptime, so he'd followed the example of his superior and kicked his feet up as well. After several minutes, Zack was dozing happily.

"Level with me," Sephiroth finally rumbled in the darkness.

"Yeah?" Zack yawned, opening his eyes.

"I have until the end of today to decide."

Sephiroth was in so much physical and mental discomfort he didn't know what to do with himself. He could never recall being hotter, hungrier, more sore, or more tired in his entire life. He attempted to cool himself by closing his office shutters and cranking the air conditioner, creating a cave-like atmosphere in his place of business.

Since actually seeing the cellular infants, the General had been plagued by terrible visions of screaming, demonic creatures with tails, horns, extra limbs, no eyes, or any terrible combination thereof. Usually these children of the damned clawed their way out of his stomach. In one particularly wretched dream, he had been on the toilet when they decided to push their way out of him, falling into the water, a writhing, screaming mess of bloody limbs and eggshells.

But in the most horrifying of all the nightmares, Cloud held and kissed one lovingly as it ate his flesh and tore away at him. He'd been unable to protect Cloud, unable to speak or move, he was just a bodiless set of eyes watching on in soul sickened terror.

In the past week, Sephiroth had become an insomniac. He couldn't sleep, and could hardly stand to be awake, so he settled for limbo in his cold, dark office behind one of Cloud's sleep masks.

He really would have given anything to shut his eyes for eight peaceful hours of sleep, but he just couldn't bear to face another nightmare. It became worse and worse the closer it came to Friday; the very last date that Aerith would ethically agree to perform an abortion. He didn't have the mental strength to weigh such a decision. He longed for a moment's peace without thinking about the creatures inside of him.

He put off facing it.. and put if off some more.. he sidestepped Cloud's attempts at conversation and then put it off even more.. and suddenly it was decision day. Sephiroth knew Aerith would be in the labs until the early evening.

He couldn't think about this alone. So he called upon his one true confidante.

Zack sighed and leaned forward, helping himself to a bagel and a little tube of hazelnut cream cheese from Sephiroth's ever present spread of pastries. "Have you talked it over with Cloud?"

Sephiroth raised his eye mask to glare at Zack, two neon slits of green cutting through the darkness. "It's all he wants to talk about. But at the same time, he just doesn't get it. He refuses to understand my plight."

"What plight?" Zack asked around the bagel.

Sephiroth snapped the eye mask onto his forehead. "I'm infested. I'm going to have to go through with something completely unnatural, completely inhuman, and quite frankly…" Sephiroth took a big bite of an onion bagel. "Completely disgusting."

Zack shrugged. "I mean, it's just a couple more weeks. I know it sounds like a lot but… after that time, you'll have a family."

"I never wanted a family."

"What's Cloud, then?"

Sephiroth paused in thought. "I really do love him."

Zack stopped chewing and raised his eyebrows. "…That's beautiful, Seph."

"I know," Sephiroth agreed grumpily.

"So, you never knew you wanted Cloud before, and look how great everything turned out, right? Maybe this will be great, too?"

"This," Sephiroth hissed, making a circular motion around his stomach. "This is not part of the program. This is grotesque."

"It is not, women do it everyday!" Zack laughed. "I mean, how hard can it be?"

"I'm not afraid of… delivering…" Then he pursed his lips a little. "Should I be?"

"Did you know that I've delivered a baby?"

"You? When?"

"I was nine. My mom's midwife asked if I wanted to help, and I was excited about getting a little sister, so I said sure. I saw everything."

Sephiroth stared at Zack, waiting for an elaboration. After several uncomfortable heartbeats of silence, he finally barked, "And?"

"And… I don't remember anything, I completely blocked it out. The nurse told her one time to push, and then alluva sudden, there was a baby. But hey! No matter how painful, or how gross it is, know that the people you love will be there, and they won't remember a damn thing about it!"

Sephiroth put his eye mask back on, slowly.

"Sephiroth, you don't want an abortion. You would have gotten one already if you did," Zack told him point blank as he took another bagel. "Have the kids. And if you don't want them, there are plenty of people around here who'd jump at the chance to take them in. They're gonna be cute little fuckers."

"They're cute alright," Sephiroth groused. "Cute, cute, fucking cute. Where am I going to put these cute little shits? We're talking about five alien beings, plus Cloud and I. Seven people. Do you think my place can happily hold seven fucking people?"

Zack shrugged. "We grew up in a small place. We were happy. Besides, it's Midgar. Everyone's crammed in like sardines."

"Well, who's going to raise them? Cloud and I don't know anything about raising babies."

"Babies are more resilient than you think, you're allowed to mess up a few times. But you'll get it, all parents do. And then again, some never do, and the kids still grow up sane and happy."

"You're supposed to be talking me out of this, Zack."

Zack flashed a grin that showed even in the dark. "Now, how would little old me be able to talk you out of anything once you've made up your mind?"

Sephiroth groaned. "… I have made up my mind, haven't I?"

"Yes sir, you have."

Sephiroth raised his eye mask again and flung it onto the floor. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck."

"What?"

"Cloud. He's finally living his dream. He's wanted to be where he's at all his fucking life. Now he's talking about putting it all off to take care of this… situation."

Zack sucked food out of his teeth. "Seph… didn't know how to bring it up before, but… Cloud's already filled out leave papers."

Sephiroth stilled. "He did?"

"Turned them in to me last week. I approved him, of course. I didn't really feel like it was my place to talk to you about it. Then I got busy and sort of…"

"Forgot," Sephiroth supplied. He wasn't honestly surprised. Cloud had also bought issues of Modern Parent, Babies' Life, and Father-Only Household magazine, attempting to hide them in his gear. It was just another piece of the puzzle that was making this decision all the more difficult.

He didn't want to break Cloud's heart.

But he also didn't want to compromise himself, his body, his manhood. And the thought of forcing his genetics onto a new generation seemed ludicrous. How could Cloud be so unfazed, so accepting? How could Zack even bear to be in the same room with such a carnival freak of a best friend, such a waste of a leader, such a failure of a … man.

Was he still a man?

Was he ever a man?

Zack watched the play of emotions make their harsh march across Sephiroth's face, and as the silence spun out uncomfortably, he finally cleared his throat. "I'd better be headed back out."

Sephiroth nodded once.

Zack sighed, hesitantly uncurling his legs from the desk and putting his hands in his pockets. Before he reached the door, he turned. "Sephiroth, whatever happens, you know I'm here for you."

"It doesn't matter if you're there for me or not," he rumbled moodily.

Zack smiled. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, Sir. The cheese stands alone."

"Get out. I hate you. You're fired," Sephiroth grumbled, too tired to work up an actual growl.

Zack whistled a few notes of Farmer and the Dell, just to ensure that the tune embedded itself into Sephiroth's skull, then left closed the door before anything could be thrown at him.

Some called him a masochist for being his friend, but the General was Zack's favorite man on the planet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cloud was pacing the floors, practically leaving smoking track in his wake.

He stopped to look at his cell phone, having done so several times within the past sixty seconds. He watched the time until another minute ticked away and resumed, running a nervous hand through his hair.

Sephiroth wouldn't answer his phone. Zack didn't know anything for sure. Aerith wasn't in her office, and nobody in the lab would tell Cloud anything because he wasn't Sephiroth's immediate fucking family.

But he needed to know if anything had happened to his little immediate family.

If Sephiroth had done something drastic… Cloud wasn't entirely sure he could go on breathing, much less forgive and forget. He loved Sephiroth with all his heart, but he wouldn't be able to look at him in the eyes again for taking this away from him. For taking it away without giving him a real chance to fight for it.

He'd been dodging baby conversation all week. At times, Sephiroth had seemed acceptant since seeing the babies. Hesitant, but still somewhat acceptant. He even seemed at times to almost be content with the turn of events, only to edit himself later of course, taking care to pile on the disdain.

Cloud tried to understand what Sephiroth was feeling.

The poor man had been blindsided. The man's world had been turned upside down.

Bullshit. The man was the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. And he was an intelligent man, one who had full knowledge of how to operate a fucking cell phone.

He stopped and peered through the peephole, smooshing his cheek against the door to see down the hallway, searching for a flash of sliver hair or black leather approaching.

But, there was nobody. Cloud made a fist and bumped it into the doorframe, pulling out his cell phone to check the time. It was still the same minute. He watched the phone until it ticked away, then stuffed it back into his pocket.

Thirty slow, agonizing minutes later, he heard keys scratch and turn in the door handle.

Cloud stood frozen as Sephiroth entered.

He sighed when he saw Cloud's anguished face, and turned away from it to make his way into the kitchen.

Cloud scoffed at the brush off. "You couldn't pick up your goddamn phone?"

"Ringer's off. I have a headache."

Cloud stood at the threshold of the kitchen, clasping his hands under his chin. "Well...?"

"It's fine," Sephiroth took a bottle of water from the cupboard. He cracked open the cap and took a drink, then gently rolled his eyes at Cloud's doe eyed gaze. "It's fine."

"So they're still…?"

"Still causing me intense pain? Yes."

Cloud let loose a gust of air, then tensed again. "Well… what happened?"

"Nothing happened. I went to work, and now I'm home."

"Sephiroth. We never talked about things after seeing them last week… really talked, I mean. I just – "

"We didn't need to talk. I do what I want… don't you know that by now?" Sephiroth took another drink.

"So you want them!" Cloud gushed.

"No," Sephiroth quickly grumbled. "I want you happy."

"I am!" Cloud clapped before he could stop himself. "It's official! It's finally official!"

Sephiroth's eyes fluttered into a roll. "What are we going to do with them?"

Cloud had already flown out of the room. He came bounding back with an armful of pastel-hued magazines. He dropped to his knees and spread them across the kitchen floor, opening them to tabbed pages and nearly bubbling over with excitement.

"We have the gym room for the boys! And there's the home office, for the girls!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "And where am I supposed to put my office shit?"

"Maybe, oh, I dunno… in your huge office at work?" Cloud sassed him, busy with his magazines. "It's about time you left work at work and just enjoyed being home!"

"Yeah well, where am I supposed to work out, then?" Sephiroth questioned, taking another drink of his water.

"There's the executive gym. Not so many adoring grunties in there," Cloud suggested easily. "And I'm sure they'd build you your own gym at HQ if you'd only ask. You can do your yoga in private…!"

"I don't do yoga," Sephiroth fibbed.

"I saw what I saw," Cloud dismissed, then cast a dazzling smile. "Okay! So I was thinking with the gym, an outer space theme! And for the home office, a pretty, pink ballerina theme! What do you think?"

Sephiroth was bored already. "What if they're all boys?"

"Ummm…" Cloud then laughed up at him. "Then we can put the gay ones in the ballerina room!"

"We need a new place," Sephiroth decided. "We cannot house two adults and five mutants in here. It's not happening."

Cloud's eyebrows turned up. "Aww, Seph… I love this apartment."

"It's a great place," Sephiroth agreed. "But there's no way."

"Two rooms will be enough for them!" Cloud argued with a hopeful smile, crawling towards Sephiroth to spider his fingers up a long leather boot. "Mmmm, and I'll clean up any messes they make and walk them everyday… I promise…"

Sephiroth jerked his knee ticklishly and let a smile slip. "I'd rather the mutants each have their own room."

"Seph! Do you realize how huge a place with six bedrooms will be? We don't even have enough stuff to fill a place that big!"

"So, we'll get stuff. It's not like I can't afford it."

"I'm not saying we can't afford it... I just don't want to move."

Sephiroth lowered his eyes. "We could compromise."

Cloud tilted his head in suspicion. "…Compromise?"

"We can keep this place if we only kept two of the… thingies."

Cloud gasped sharply.

"It's a thought," Sephiroth quickly continued before the blonde could balk. "Two spare rooms here for two kids. A boy and a girl. That would be more than enough for us to handle. We wouldn't have to move, and you wouldn't be overtaxed. Think about it; it's just an option."

"No!" Cloud said instantly. "No fucking way!"

"Okay, okay," Sephiroth agreed, tilting his water bottle back to take a few big gulps.

Cloud pursed his lips in near anger, knowing that while his lover often talked a lot of big, bad game… he wasn't so bad. He wasn't so bad, at all.

It was just that Sephiroth's mind was sometimes overly logical, but he always made decisions with his heart. He never would have gotten an abortion. Of this, Cloud became suddenly certain. If he really had wanted to, he would have the moment he'd found out about all this. And if he did have the babies, there's no way in hell he would really give a single one of them up.

Sephiroth never shared what was his.

Cloud was fully prepared to lose his temper and call Sephiroth's bluff on both counts, shoving that beautiful face right into a steaming pile of his own inner soft heartedness.

But Sephiroth swallowed more water, leaving his lips wet and pursed. When his eyes finally met Cloud's, the bright greens were dim with exhaustion and clear apprehension. Sephiroth's right eyebrow twitched a little and the tiny action seemed to beg for affection. Cloud instantly lost any urge to argue or knock him down a notch. He loved Sephiroth too much to stoop to such pettiness.

Cloud rose from his knees and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's waist. "…You okay?"

"Sure," he answered softly, immediately wrapped his arms around Cloud.

"You still love me?"

"Of course. I've loved you since Nibelheim."

Cloud made a little unidentifiable noise. "You …did?"

Sephiroth didn't smile. "That night at the diner, I fell in love with you. I remember when the sun was coming up, you closed your eyes and laid your head on my shoulder… you made me want to keep living, Cloud. You still do."

Cloud rested his cheek on Sephiroth's chest, so thoroughly romanced that he could hardly remain standing. "Awwoh… I love you, Seph."

"I love you, too," Sephiroth agreed, wondering which egg was pulling which lever to make him not only agree to keep the mutant spawn, but also come home and romance Cloud for no reason at all!? It was like he had no control of himself, anymore!

Sephiroth was busy cooking up some sort of smartass commentary, something to regain his footing. But with Cloud smiling and happy, pressed warm and secure against him, he realized that giving a little extra love felt… nice.

So he held back any and all venom in his voice. "I know you already put in for your leave."

Cloud tensed a little in his arms. "Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not. How long did you take?"

"Three years."

"Jesus Christ, Cloud…" Sephiroth murmured.

"I'm still in the reserve! I figure I can go on missions now and then… and I'll keep up with my training. We can train together! And when the babies are ready for preschool, I can go on active duty again."

Sephiroth laid his cheek in Cloud's hair. "That's very well thought out."

Cloud took a moment to let that immeasurable compliment sink in, before asking, "You really think so?"

"If you're willing to do it."

"I am!"

Sephiroth kissed the top of Cloud's head and reached for his water bottle. "So you're going to mommy five fucking monsters all by yourself?"

"I've thought about that… it'll be almost impossible," Cloud admitted. "…How would you feel about a part-time nanny?"

"I don't want some random woman around them," Sephiroth declared loudly. "The things will probably mistake her for their mother. That's fucking disgusting."

Cloud laughed a little bit over Sephiroth's sudden vitriol against a surrogate mother figure. "Well… what about a manny?"

"Fine. You and the manny can have a good time in the new place, then. And while we're at it, we might as well look for a seven room place. I want my goddamn gym."

Cloud pouted in defeat. "I'll miss this apartment so much."

Sephiroth smiled knowingly, and brushed the tresses of blonde hair away from Cloud's ear and purred into it, "Even if the new place happens to have a pool?"

Cloud's eyes fluttered. "P – … Pool? We can have a pool? A big pool?"

"As big as you want."

"With an attached jacuzzi!?"

"Naturally."

The heavens opened up and shined down on Cloud Strife. He bounced into the air, suddenly very eager to vacate. "Alright! I'm already still half packed from when we had our big fight! I'll put an ad in the paper for a manny, and – and – and I'll find a realtor and we have to go pick baby stuff out! Should we register for a baby shower? Oh, stupid question, of course you don't want a fucking baby shower!"

"Cloud."

"I wanna be moved in and be settled by the time the babies arrive! Oh Seph, we don't have much time! I promise I can handle everything! I just want you to take it easy!"

"Cloud."

Cloud ripped off a sheet of paper from their magnetic note holder on the refrigerator door, and was making a list of tasks, babbling about the hierarchy of importance. Which should come first? The manny or the baby names? The new place or the new furniture? The diapers or the wall paint?

Sephiroth clamped his hand over Cloud's mouth. Dancing blue eyes looked over to find calm, green ones.

"Start first thing tomorrow."

"Omowwow?" Cloud muffled behind Sephiroth's hand.

"Tomorrow…" Sephiroth repeated, tilting Cloud's face up to brush his lips.

Cloud got the hint in a big way. He let his pen and paper fall from his hands, then raised them to brush up Sephiroth's arms.

Sephiroth was already working on Cloud's SOLDIER belt. "You're awfully sexy when I let you have your way."

Cloud smiled, leaning his forehead against Sephiroth's chin. "Maybe you should go with what I want more often."

"You're free to do whatever you want, Cloud. You always have been."

Cloud held up his arms to allow his ribbed blue shirt to be tugged off. "I know, but I just want to please you… and pleasing you typically means holding on for dear life and not asking questions."

Sephiroth smirked as Cloud's pants slid past his hips and dropped down to the floor. "You seem to like it that way."

"I do…" Cloud agreed, chirping a little when Sephiroth picked him up and set him on the countertop.

"I know you do. But as you might know, I'm finding myself rather open to suggestion these days…" Sephiroth kissed Cloud, easily finding the comfortable and memorized tastes and textures of his lips.

He took as he was accustomed to, but then stopped taking, and waited instead. Cloud's lips didn't falter, they moved Sephiroth's easily, sucking and bestowing tiny, sweet pecks between deeper invasions of his pink tongue.

Cloud Strife was an extremely sensual kisser. Did Sephiroth even notice that before now?

He realized that he did not. He let Cloud kiss him to his little heart's content, feeling the cool, long fingered hands cup his face, and the soft, warm tongue nudge his along. Cloud broke away to utter Sephiroth's name, if for no other reason than he liked the way it felt in his mouth.

Sephiroth moved the kiss to Cloud's jaw, across his throat and to his ear. "Want something, Cloud?"

"I…"

Sephiroth pulled a little on Cloud's hair. "I won't ask again."

"I want…" Cloud carefully shed his insecurity and answered. "I wanna make love to you... can I?"

"Yeah."

Cloud paused. He leaned back to look at Sephiroth, gauging him uncertainly for several moments.

"You gonna do it through my clothes?"

Cloud blushed as his hands came up, his fingers working on Sephiroth's coat. The General cooperated in slipping it off and making himself available for Cloud's fingers to get into his belt for unfastening, his boots for unsnapping, and finally his pants for unzipping.

Cloud slid down off the counter and slowed, taking his sweet time to pull the leather pants down Sephiroth's thighs. He gently raked and dug in his fingers more than was called for, and Sephiroth watched with great interest. Cloud's eyes and fingers seemed to be transfixed not with his erection, but with the outer hip area, the length of his thighs, and the caps of his knees. Cloud bent down to run his lips along a line of muscular definition, moving over to the other thigh to give it the same treatment.

Cloud Strife was a leg man. Sephiroth was astonished that he also did not know this before, and he was never more thankful for his mile long gams.

After fully undressing him, Cloud seemed unsure of what to do next. He blinked in thought before taking Sephiroth's hand, and gently leading him towards the bedroom. He followed Cloud without complaint or criticism, but if he were in charge, he would have simply taken himself in the kitchen.

However, it was Cloud's turn. If it was a gentle tug of his hand to bed, Sephiroth would follow. He wanted to follow.

And then Sephiroth could then see the genius reasoning behind the bed. Once horizontal, they were the same height.

"Stop thinking so much," Cloud murmured, taking up a position to straddle one of Sephiroth's legs.

"…It's just different."

Afterall, forcing Cloud to fuck him wasn't quite the same as allowing Cloud to fuck him. The first fateful time he could hardly recall, and the second he'd been an inch from certifiable insanity. Maybe Aerith was right, and he had been in heat like an animal. But now he was calm, sober… everything felt sharper and more real than it had before.

Cloud's hands knew Sephiroth's body perfectly. His fingers brushed down his stomach in such a way that every drop of blood in his body shot to his feathery touch. Sephiroth's toes bunch in the sheets as Cloud's warm mouth followed his fingers down his torso. His hands coasted over the length of his legs as his lips teased the ridges rises and dips of his stomach.

When Cloud stopped and looked, Sephiroth closed his eyes, hoping to God that Cloud wouldn't.

But Cloud did.

He kissed across the area where their combined cells were mutating, sweetly and chastely; kisses not meant for Sephiroth. His toes dug into the sheets for a different reason, to resist rolling away, to resist calling the whole thing off.

Cloud sensed the tenseness and moved to Sephiroth's softening erection. It almost wasn't enough to distract the General from his fresh apprehension, but just almost. Cloud's mouth, like his hands, knew exactly what he needed.

He watched intently and slowly allowed himself to forget about the eggs. Cloud's tongue flicked out at the tip as Sephiroth watched, and for the first time in several days, he felt totally alone in the room with his little lover. Cloud could sense a little change in the currents of Sephiroth's aura, a relaxation and a tiny fire of desire lit. Cloud fanned the flames, letting out soft noises around his cock, his blonde head moving up and down slowly, his lips wrapped tight.

Sephiroth was always so smooth about suddenly having lube in his hands, he was like a sex magician. Cloud realized that was because Sephiroth had arms long enough to reach the drawer from anywhere on the bed. He felt it would have been bad form to ask for help, especially since Sephiroth was quickly becoming putty in his hands, so he improvised. While managing not to distract Sephiroth from the blowjob that he so obviously needed, he stretched out his leg, opened the drawer with his foot, and fished out the little tube with his toes.

Sephiroth was vaguely aware of a rustling, but with the tiny commotion, Cloud sucked harder. Hence, the commotion was ignored. He then realized what it must have been when he felt fingers hint gently at his opening, and then slip in, stretching him gently.

"Enough," Sephiroth grunted almost immediately. This was something he felt he didn't need. He did it for Cloud because he was small, and naturally the more fragile of the two. But it felt condescending to be prepared.

Cloud came up from Sephiroth's cock and licked his lips. "Let me make you feel good."

…Sephiroth didn't know how to respond to that.

He didn't have to; Cloud slipped in another finger, thrusting and probing gently as he took Sephiroth all the way down his throat. He let a hand slide into Cloud's hair, not to force or guide, just to feel more of him. Every noise and texture Cloud presented was another thousand miles away he traveled from reality.

Cloud came up with a hot trail of kisses, and brought them to Sephiroth's lips. Never brutal or pushy, instead he presented another series of those breathless, sensual wet pecks. Sephiroth flicked his tongue out at each one until Cloud's mouth opened up to take it, sucking on it with an anxious shiver.

They both gasped when Cloud traded his fingers for his erection. It was abrupt, and his blue eyes grew large under the hanging curtain of sweat damp blonde hair. He stopped for a moment, grinding himself softly out of restlessness, but allowing Sephiroth a moment to adjust.

Sephiroth gazed up under the thick black curtain of his eyelashes, lips parted. Cloud took it for a little moment of shocked pain, but it was the opposite. For the first time in almost two weeks, he felt absolutely no pain.

It was just them.

When Cloud pulled his hips back slightly, the feeling of blissful painlessness quickly made way for that strange shock of bittersweet electric pleasure. If the first strike of Cloud's cock had been like morphine, the second was like ecstasy.

The third brought about that demanding slice of depravity that neither knew Sephiroth possessed.

"Fuck…" he gasped, his hips lifting a little.

Cloud was happy to hear it. "…Yeah?"

Sephiroth nodded against the sheets and truly spread his legs, hugging one around Cloud's narrow hips. The closet leg enthusiast's blue eyes dilated a bit, and he reached back to cup the long thigh with his fingers digging in appreciatively.

Cloud rolled his hips against Sephiroth's in a way that was usually reversed and rubbing against his outer thighs. Feeling the swinging little swaying thrust almost made Sephiroth want to burst out laughing. He'd half expected Cloud to hulk out, or to become a manly stud out of absolutely nowhere. He was glad that Cloud hadn't assumed a different way of making love, because Sephiroth craved seeing him move that way.

He was still Cloud, just… on top.

Sephiroth was so relaxed, so relieved, so lost in sensations that he didn't realize how much deep throated noise he was making. Cloud ate up every octave and syllable and gave it back with double the enthusiasm. He pressed his forehead into Sephiroth's chest and dug his knees into the bed, never feeling so completely surrounded by his lover in his life. It hadn't felt like Sephiroth before. Maybe fragments of him, but this was the real, entire thing moving against him, groaning for him, and holding onto him with his long, beautiful limbs.

Cloud was quickly approached with a decision. Sephiroth's cock was massive, rock hard and leaking between their stomachs, and he himself was also tightening towards completion. He knew that he could have slowed down, drawn out this beautiful union, but he also could see in Sephiroth's eyes how exhausted the man was.

Then, the exhausted man purred something low and dirty against his ear, a filthy combination of curse words and body parts that Cloud's pleasure hazed mind didn't actually understand, but damn well knew the meaning of. As much as he wanted to prolong it, for hours if he could possibly manage it, he knew his love hadn't been sleeping well.

Love overcame lust. It was time to put Sephiroth to bed the right way.

Cloud made a show of licking his palm, then wrapped it around Sephiroth, slowly pumping him in a tight fist, caressing every inch of his thick length.

Sephiroth could see what he was doing and gave in without question. He lifted his hips up into Cloud's fist, pushing himself up harder and Cloud in deeper, and soon tumbled over the edge. Cloud didn't speed the pumping of his hand or his hips, ensuring that Sephiroth's climax was long, drawn out and deep. He suddenly understood why Sephiroth always fucked him so slowly over their two years together. The inner convulsions and tremors through Sephiroth's body felt heavenly, too achingly good to rush.

While the hot liquid spurted against his stomach and chest, Cloud felt himself grow wild with need, and was pulled and caressed even tighter by Sephiroth's ass. He forced himself to keep it slow, the greater effort yielding an uncontrollable whimpering. As Sephiroth came down for a soft landing, Cloud quickly took off.

The relaxed green eyes stayed fixed on him, and Cloud didn't attempt to hide his face or his words. They were all praise and affection for his lover, afterall, if a little rough and jagged.

When Cloud finally collapsed on top of Sephiroth, he left himself slide out, sighing in a bit of annoyance at the thick, white mess he made when he did so. He figured he was in charge of clean up, so he forced himself up with a groan to do so. Sephiroth laid out like a spoiled brat, pleased to be able to lie and relax after sex instead of hopping up for a towel.

When Cloud returned from the bathroom, Sephiroth had burrowed under the blankets and was holding it aloft for him, his eyes already closed. Cloud was somewhat happy that this wasn't reversed; Sephiroth enveloped him from behind as per usual.

"What's the ratio?" Cloud wondered aloud as he settled in.

"Ratio of what?" Sephiroth asked, his voice deep and satisfied against Cloud's hair.

"This," Cloud giggled. "How often can we do this?"

Sephiroth chuckled. "What kind of ratio do you have in mind?"

"Sixty – forty?" Cloud suggested.

"No fucking way. Eighty – twenty," Sephiroth hissed in his hair.

"Seventy – thirty!" Cloud argued with a smile.

"Seventy-five – Twenty-five…final offer."

"How about… when we both want to?" Cloud yawned happily, curling his hands inside of Sephiroth's.

"Sounds good. Stupid to keep tabs on it…" was the last thing Sephiroth mumbled before a deep yawn. After a few moments of kissing smooth skin, wiggling their feet together, and making sure no limbs were lying on silver hair, Sephiroth's breath settled into a deep pattern of much needed sleep.

Tabs, indeed. Cloud snorted to himself. He just worked over General Sephiroth. He planned to start tattooing notches onto his balls.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Five!" Cloud kept sighing breathlessly.

Sephiroth was extraordinarily grumpy that afternoon. He didn't feel much like verbalizing his unhappiness, because he knew that once the dam was broken, he might kill someone or something.

"Five! Oh!" Cloud moaned on a little puff of air, taking up a teddy bear and squeezing the plush soul out of it.

The very next morning, Cloud had dragged him off to The Baby Depot, or The Breeder Paradise, or whatever the fuck the huge, sprawling warehouse of infant goods was called.

Just to look, of course.

The only stipulation that made Sephiroth even cross the threshold was that they weren't spending a single gil. Not one. They didn't know the sexes of the infants yet, or if they were even going to have sexes at all, therefore they were only looking. Sephiroth became more and more irritated as Cloud shamelessly ripped off item number tickets for later reference.

He sighed, completely unhappy with losing his home and body to a litter of unwelcome alien spawn. The now familiar tight ache in his stomach contested that they must have been growing despite his mental hostility towards them. He'd never intended to mention the fact that Cloud's cock had somehow lessened the pain, but he let it slip that morning when he woke happy and satisfied in his little lover's arms, fully indulging in a little bit of pillow talk.

Cloud's theory to the mystery? "They missed me!"

This earned him a rough smack on the top of his head.

He'd been following Aerith's orders to succumb to any cravings and keep off of physical activity as much as possible. This was more for his comfort than for the aliens. As far as he was concerned, as long as they were housed in his body, it would be survival of the fittest.

"I want their tails cut off," Sephiroth declared suddenly, causing Cloud to turn on his heels.

"Cut your hair off," he instantly challenged.

"I'm serious," Sephiroth said firmly, shoving away a stroller that rolled into his path with one finger. "If they really are just normal kids with tails… let's cut them off."

"You can't just cut off a part of someone's body," Cloud tsked, turning from the strollers to veer his short attention-spanned little self over to the clothes.

"We'd be doing them a favor," Sephiroth argued. Then he paused, his attention intensely drawn to something on a shelf.

Cloud halted, desperate to know what his lover had actually stopped to look at. Sephiroth reached out with his long, big fingers, and gently picked up a tiny, perfectly made little Converse sneaker. "Are you telling me that babies are this fucking small?"

Cloud giggled, picking up a teensy little loafer. "Yeah, babies wear these!"

Sephiroth was honestly shocked, and then seemed more shocked when he found an even smaller shoe. He turned to Cloud very seriously. "… We're SOLDIERs. How are we gonna handle these things?"

"Tons of SOLDIERs have children!" Cloud laughed.

"What if I step on one or something?"

"Hopefully they'll be smart enough to scatter at the sound of your thunderous footsteps."

Sephiroth wasn't amused. "Cloud, it took me forever not to bruise you. How am I going to handle a baby?"

"You'll learn, gorgeous man. You can do anything…" Cloud grinned, running a single finger down Sephiroth's chest. This sudden hint of naughtiness was completely inappropriate and completely… sexy.

Sephiroth fought a smile to the death and lost miserably. As his lips curved upwards, Cloud smoothed his knuckles across his cheek affectionately before looking back to the tiny array of shoes. He twirled a little ballerina flat on his finger and gazed around the store. "Isn't this just plain fun?"

"What's so fun about it?" Sephiroth pouted, grumpiness resumed.

"Everything's so cute!"

"Infants won't appreciate or remember a thing about these accoutrements. It's all unnecessary. They need diapers, food, and something to sleep on. That's all I had."

"Oh my God! You're gonna be one of those fathers!"

"Excuse me?"

Cloud growled with puffed cheeks. "Gather 'round children, I'll tell you all about life in the medical lab! When I was a kid we didn't have all this bullshit! No sir, all I had was a roll of toilet paper and active grenades to play with – and I liked it!"

Sephiroth huffed. "Actually, I played with expired science kits and empty shotguns, thanks."

Light danced in Cloud's eyes. "And you got beaten constantly, of course!"

"Every single day. It was actually the highlight of my afternoon as a kid," Sephiroth said truthfully, a nostalgic smile curving his lips. "…They called it training hour, and it was always a different sort of ambush. It wasn't over until I won, or ruptured an organ."

Cloud guffawed. "And did you walk to school every day? Uphill both ways?"

"I was schooled in the lab. I would have gladly walked any distance, through any conditions to have gotten out of that place."

Cloud was in convulsions. "Our kids will hate you so much! I cannot wait!"

Sephiroth grinned at the melodic laughter, hooking an arm roughly around Cloud's waist to pull him away from the shoes. "I'm glad my hellish childhood amuses you."

Cloud sighed and let himself be led. "Well, it's not like I had much growing up, either. It was constantly freezing in Nibelheim. We had a limited amount of wood in the winter, so mom usually wouldn't light a warmth fire unless it was under twenty degrees. If it was twenty-one degrees, she'd just tell me to put on more clothes. I remember whenever she cooked, I'd bundle up by the stove just for the heat."

Sephiroth listened intently. As bad as he'd had it, he'd always had the simple modern comfort of a controlled thermostat.

Cloud wandered down the aisle, picking up a box that pictured little girls playing dress up on it, the contents apparently dresses and tiaras and jewels. "When I was really young, I played with wooden toys my grandpa made for me himself. Trucks and blocks. And I had plastic SOLDIERs. When I got a little older, I'd help out the miners after school, moving rocks and doing odd jobs, like getting into places I was little enough to get into. They'd give me some spare change, and I'd usually save it up for something I wanted, like going to the movies or a cool lunch box…" Cloud got a faraway look. "I had a totally badass Masters of the Universe lunch box…"

"Why?" Sephiroth asked, curious about the fond expression Cloud showed for something that's purpose was to hold food. He'd never experienced a school lunch room.

"Lunch boxes are a form self expression for kids," Cloud explained easily. Then he laughed a little. "One time I bought myself sea monkeys. My mom was so pissed that I wasted my money on them. Did you ever have sea monkeys?"

"No," Sephiroth answered. One time he watched an experiment that outfitted a chimpanzee with gills, and it actually survived underwater for a few days. But he knew Cloud was probably referring to brine shrimp eggs.

He was actually finding himself fascinated by Cloud's humble, near poverty level upbringing. Cloud hadn't spoken of it before then in such length.

Sephiroth approached him from behind, laying his chin in his blonde spikes. "What else?"

Cloud was slightly surprised he'd wanted to hear more. "Um… Well, this isn't very nice to say, but the kids were so bored… most started having sex before fifth grade."

"You didn't, though," Sephiroth hummed. It wasn't a question; he knew he'd been the one to claim Cloud's purity.

Cloud chuckled. "Believe me, I tried. But I was a runt, none of the girls liked me."

"I find that hard to believe."

Cloud shrugged. "What can I say? You have questionable taste in men."

"You happen to taste very, very good," Sephiroth planted a kiss on top of his blonde head, stopping to turn down another colorful aisle of toys.

Cloud followed along, running his fingers over the plastic packages. "You know what I always looked forward to more than presents? Every Christmas, my mom would bake cookies. We only had sweets a few times a year. On my birthday she would always bake me a cake, and on Christmas she would bake sugar cookies. And fuck they were good!"

Sephiroth's mouth nearly watered at the notion of warm, homemade cookies. "You know how to make them?"

Cloud nodded. "I remember the recipe. I'd always help her."

"Our mutant brats will surely have them on Christmas, then."

Cloud stopped, too happy to walk another step without hugging his beloved. "They won't be spoiled brats. But I'd love to give them more than we had."

"We're already giving them more than we had," Sephiroth had to point out. "We didn't have fathers. They get two."

Chapter Image – owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/art/Reactions-105926621

A/N

1- MPREG! That stands for MAN PREGNANCYZ ARE EFFING GRAND, get it? Get it? Bwahaha! Haha… ha? Ehhhhhh…..

2- I had fun thinking about the different ways Cloud could have been brought up. Nibelheim always seemed like it was stuck in a time warp, like South Dakota. I wouldn't consider it poverty by any means, just not modern. And Sephiroth's childhood was sort of super modern, but missing things like lunchboxes.

3- Even though they're now officially switch hitters, I've decided to only elaborate on the CloudxSeph scenes for this story. There should be more of them out there, that don't involve the horrific, skin crawling concept of blood as lubricant. 0__0 Yeesh! Does it have to be such a painful power struggle? It's just sex! Most men are happy just to get a fully clothed dry hump, it's not such an Earth shattering thing to switch the game up.


	6. 62 Days

"Seph?"

Sephiroth was a long, silent lump on the bed. The black comforter was pulled up over his head, and the only sign of him were a few silver tresses peeking from beneath the blanket and spilling to the floor.

"Hm?"

"Sweetie, you're gonna be late if you don't get up," Cloud informed gently, working a towel through his wet hair and sending a few drops flying. "Don't feel good?"

"Mm-mm."

"Want me to call Zack, tell him to cover for you?"

"Mm-hm."

"Okay, I'll call him before I leave…" Cloud threw the towel into the bathroom and crawled slinkily to the man-size lump in the covers. "…Can I rub your back?"

"No," Sephiroth said groggily, his first English response of the day.

"…Can I rub anything else?" Cloud cheekily suggested, pushing his forehead into and nuzzling what he assumed to be a shoulder.

"Go to work. I'll call in for myself."

Cloud frowned as his frisky advance was discarded. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Get a vasectomy."

Cloud purred with laughter at that and peeled back the covers to find Sephiroth's face pressed into the pillows. He tsked, scratching his fingers into Sephiroth's scalp in a way he knew he liked. "Poor daddy…"

Sephiroth rolled a little and one green eye appeared, and glared with pure hatred. Cloud leaned down and kissed it. "Want me to bring you home something yummy?"

"What are you trying to do? Make me fatter than I already am?…" Sephiroth trailed off slightly, then narrowed his one visible eye, yanked the covered from Cloud's hand and tucked it over his head.

He was… hiding.

Cloud curled closer. "Seph… are you showing?"

"No," he declared solidly.

"Let me see!" Cloud cried, bouncing and wiggling on the bed beside him.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Sephiroth roared, muffled by the pillows and the comforter. He groaned a little as Cloud continued to rock and wriggle on the bed beside him. "You're making me sea sick!"

"Show me!"

"There's nothing to show!"

"Prove it!"

Sephiroth elbowed him roughly through the blanket. "Get away from me!"

"Just let me look!" Cloud screamed, and began to peel away at the comforter.

Sephiroth curled up into a tight ball. If he hadn't been in a delicate condition, Cloud would have done his best to unlock his long limbs and wrestle him onto his back. It was a natural, rowdy SOLDIER urge, and he had to suppress it with great effort.

Instead, he wormed his hands down into the comforter and found warm, smooth skin, and very gently tickled whatever it was.

Sephiroth jerked. "Knock it off, Strife!"

"You knock it off, Sir! You planning to hide for the next month?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact!" Sephiroth sneered.

"Quit being such a fathead!"

Sephiroth's face appeared from out of the pillow with a rumpled scowl. "Fine. Here I am. You can see me. Happy?"

Cloud lovingly kissed between his eyebrows where the delicate ivory flesh knotted with stress. "…Let me share this with you."

"It's mortifying!"

"How can you be mortified in front of me? You've caught me pooping in the woods, remember?"

It had taken months for Sephiroth to let that one die. Once upon a mission, right after they had begun dating, it had been Cloud's duty to fill the camp's canteens with fresh water. He had taken a long while to do it, and having brand new, protective boyfriend urges, Sephiroth had gone valiantly trotting off to find him.

After searching for a few minutes, he finally rounded a tree just in time to stumble onto his new blonde boyfriend popping a squat, fatigues around his ankles and all.

Sephiroth snickered in his mind at the memory, and at how soul scorchingly embarrassed Cloud had been. He'd pulled up his pants immediately, and being his usual self, Sephiroth smugly reminded him that he had neglected to wipe his ass.

If Cloud had had a cyanide pill, he most certainly would have swallowed it in that moment.

Things were so new between them then. So new that Sephiroth had actually turned around while Cloud finished his business properly. The humiliating encounter became tentative talking, and after they'd located the water and were heading back to camp, Cloud's gloved hand found its way into his. He had snuck into Cloud's tent that night, and remembered fighting himself to keep his hands above the virgin's waist while he devoured his mouth, and relished the way Cloud's erection had grinded desperately into his leg. He remembered the way Cloud's face split into shocked awe when Sephiroth lost the battle against himself and let his hand slide down the front of his fatigues. He remembered the secretive smile Cloud had given him over breakfast the next morning.

Fond memories flooded Sephiroth. He then realized that although they'd only been together two short years, most of his life's fond memories involved Cloud in some way.

Very, very suddenly, Sephiroth became agonizingly close to bursting into tears. His head just couldn't hold all the love he had for Cloud. It almost made him ill, as if his heart was about to throw in the towel and quit beating.

Cloud had to notice the tears welling in Sephiroth's eyes, and of course, did not understand. "…Oh, honey... I don't have to look if you really don't want me to."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes a little, just to move them around and get some air circulating through them. "Just… don't laugh. I'll kill you if you laugh."

"I'd never laugh," Cloud promised earnestly.

Sephiroth wouldn't come out, but he did invite Cloud in by lifting the edge of the blanket. Cloud got under it carefully, stunned sober by actually having seen tears well in his lover's green eyes. Although they had already dried away, Cloud was still gentle and slow as he settled in behind him and laid his head on the pillow, effectively soaking it with his wet hair.

He pressed against Sephiroth's back. His long arms were locked around himself, more defensive from outsiders rather than protective of what was inside him. Cloud wrapped an arm around him, and they hesitantly unlocked. He touched his hand to Sephiroth's chest, then moved it down, expecting some large swell that hadn't been there the night before.

It wasn't that, but rather a very subtle curve, one that probably would have been normal on someone with any amount of body fat, only it was firm and hard.

It wasn't any use to tell Sephiroth he wasn't getting bigger, or that it wouldn't get any worse, because he was and it would. And while it was true that nobody would have been able to tell Sephiroth was pregnant by looking at him, they soon would. And the way the babies were growing, it was going to happen fast.

So, Cloud didn't attempt to minimize it. "I feel them."

Sephiroth moved onto his back and looked at Cloud. "It hurts."

Cloud nuzzled his cheek. "I'm so sorry, honey."

"…Soon I won't be able to suck it in at all."

Cloud looked at him. "…You're sucking in?"

"As hard as I can, for the past month or so."

"Sephiroth!" Cloud cried, shooting up onto one elbow. "Shit! No wonder it hurts you so much! Relax! Now!"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!"

"You're stunting their growth!"

"I'm not, trust me!" Sephiroth argued.

"Let your stomach relax!"

It remained mostly flat and unchanged.

Cloud began to panic. "You're squashing them!"

Sephiroth let out a long, guttural breath of frustration. And then, slowly, he let his stomach completely relax.

Cloud gasped.

Sephiroth immediately tightened it again and rolled over onto his side. "Fuck you!"

"I didn't laugh!"

Sephiroth curled into a ball again. Cloud gave the clock a weary look, because it was time for him to leave, but he didn't want to with his lover in such a state. He hugged him, and was glad when he wasn't pushed away or shoved off.

"Don't hurt yourself like this."

"I don't want anyone to see," Sephiroth murmured.

Cloud hugged the man he loved. "Nobody has to see. Zack can take over for you. You don't have to work right now, and I don't want you to work right now. The babies will come, and you'll go back, and nobody will ever have to know. We'll say… I dunno… Aerith mixed our genes, and we had test tube babies."

"…That could work," Sephiroth agreed after a few moments of consideration.

"It will. But right now, please relax. Don't hurt yourself, or… them."

"It feels disgusting."

"I didn't gasp because I thought you looked gross."

"You tell me I'm beautiful and I'll punch your lights out."

Cloud smiled, because he did think that it was utterly beautiful, but wouldn't have dared said it. "No, it's just proof. That this is all really happening. One more month, and we'll have little, soft things that look a little like you, and a little like me. Right?"

"With tails." Sephiroth just had to point out.

"With tails," Cloud agreed. He smoothed Sephiroth's hair from his face. "This is a moment that I'm never going to forget as long as I live."

Sephiroth sighed and relaxed a little. Cloud carefully felt his tummy. Not a hard, washboard ravine that begged to be licked, but a gently rounded curve. Not huge yet, but not something that was going to be concealed, either.

"Feel better?"

Sephiroth grunted. "Maybe."

"No more sucking in."

"It's a habit."

"You can suck in all you want in one more month, okay? You can go back to eating twigs and berries and running for eight hours a day… just go easy while you're taking care of my babies."

"Your babies?" Sephiroth snapped harshly before he could stop himself. Then, he decided to finish his rant for the fuck of it. "I'm the one carrying the little shits."

"…Our babies," Cloud corrected himself softly.

"Okay," Sephiroth sighed with his face in the pillow. Cloud probably wouldn't have been able to tell, but the tears had returned, and were steadily marching down his cheeks.

Cloud cuddled him. "Sleep, and don't suck in. And when I get home, I'll suck you…"

"Go to work, Cloud." Sephiroth said, but Cloud could hear the smile in his voice.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cloud didn't suck Sephiroth when he got home. In fact, he didn't even leave the bed. Or the next day. Or the next.

Sephiroth had been hiding in bed for four solid days.

He left it when Cloud was at work, which was evident because he didn't stink for not showering, and the place was usually cleaner than when he left it each morning. Zack had gifted him with the sort of cushy duty that typically comes from high rank and seniority, and his hours were suddenly very regular and pretty much nine to five.

Not that the extra quality time mattered, because Sephiroth wouldn't leave the damn bed. It was preferable to him running around chopping up monsters and rearranging furniture, but the man was acting like he was on death row. No amount of coaxing, edible treats, or tomfoolery could even bring a smile to his face.

"He's not gonna wanna see me," Zack pled, crossing his arms.

Cloud pulled on them. "C'mon Zack, don't bullshit me. You don't want to see him either, but he's acting like a corpse! Don't you care?"

Zack didn't budge, even with Cloud hanging on him like a monkey. "Of course I care, I just know he's not gonna appreciate being …bothered right now?"

"Oh, c'mon! Since when has that stopped you!?"

"Since my best friend got knocked up, that's when. I did what I could already, but I don't wanna make it worse but trying too much."

Cloud took one of Zack's brawny arms and proceeded to give him an Indian Arm Burn.

"Ahww!" Zack cried.

"You listen to me!" Cloud commanded. "Sephiroth needs you! So go collect yourself, and take some time to cheer up my babies' daddy."

Zack swatted Cloud away. "Fine, but only since you got so ghetto about it."

Cloud smiled sweetly and handed over the keys to the apartment. "Take him some fast food."

Zack frowned. Filling Sephiroth up on empty carbs generally maxed out one's credit card. "This just got treacherous and expensive!"

"I'll reimburse you! Just go!"

Zack decided to forego the train and take the walk there, stopping by at a small deli where he knew Sephiroth loved the chili dogs, and had begun getting them ordered since he started growing the little ones. He also got a few donuts to sweeten the deal, but also because they were more aerodynamic than the chili dogs. If worse came to worse, he could distract him with the edibles while he made a clean break for it.

He knocked on the door to the apartment carefully. He waited a minute or two before knocking again.

Then he realized that there was something… off about the front door. Zack closed his eyes and tried to use his senses, and he realized there was a larger than life presence looming behind it, watching him.

Zack grinned into the peephole and held up the paper bag. "Chili dogs."

There was no change to the presence on the other side of the door. Zack figured Sephiroth was waiting for him to leave the food on the doorstep and split.

Zack jingled Cloud's key ring in front of the peephole. "Keys."

Again, there was no change to the presence, and Zack took it as a dare.

He jammed the key into the slot and turned, and the presence departed, followed by the loud thumps of fleeing footsteps.

Zack let himself in slowly, allowing Sephiroth time to hide wherever it was he thought he was going to hide. He threw his coat on the dining room table, then did a double take, as it used to be a messy catchall area. He shrugged and took two plates from the kitchen, then opened the fridge for beverages. It was almost stark empty.

Sephiroth must have been consuming food faster than Cloud could restock it. He checked the pantry, and besides some instant mashed potatoes, it was cleared out as well.

Sephiroth was sitting at the head of their bed blindly watching television with their comforter wrapped around him until only half his face was visible. The little window into the comforter was filled with disapproval. "What are you doing here?"

Zack fibbed. "Cloud said you didn't have much at the house, so he asked me to bring you some lunch."

"How sweet of both of you," Sephiroth said dryly, then shifted under the blanket until one arm appeared, long, lean and muscled as ever. It reached out impatiently. "Gimme the dogs. You're dismissed."

Zack looked at that arm, and wondered what exactly Sephiroth was hiding under the blankets. Furthermore, he wondered if he actually wanted to see it. He was on the fence, but leaning towards morbid curiosity, so he swung the bag around nonchalantly. "I was thinking I could eat with you, I haven't seen you in over a week, and you seem like you'd just love some company."

Sephiroth glared from under the blanket. "Bite me. Leave the food and go."

Zack strolled around the room, looking at pictures framed on the walls, taking the long route to the bed. "Cloud really fixed up your place, didn't he? Pictures on the walls, curtains on the windows. It's a lot cozier than when you were a bachelor."

"Are you calling me a slob?"

"Nope. Just making an observation, Space Ghost."

Sephiroth's face was momentarily stunned, until one side of his mouth lifted slightly. "Been a while since you called me that, Brak."

Zack snickered happily. "Ah, memories. It's nice to reminisce."

"What are you babbling about? You're letting the food get cold."

Zack relented, and began to pile the food onto Sephiroth's plate in a sloppy, cheesy pyramid. "I was just thinking out loud, but mostly wondering what you were going to name the little ones."

Sephiroth didn't snap, crackle, or pop, he instead sighed thoughtfully from inside his comforter fortress. "We decided to wait until we see them to name them."

"You gonna name one after me?" Zack grinned, handing the plate over and smiling as Sephiroth hungrily inhaled the first chilidog.

After he swallowed, he chuckled. "Why would I curse another living thing with your name?"

Zack made a thoughtful noise before joining Sephiroth in chilidog gluttony. "I'll never have any to name after myself. Maybe if you see one of them and he like, immediately pisses you off… you should name it Zack," he then shrugged casually. "Or not."

Sephiroth put more food in his face to avoid having to verbally respond to that. He'd put it out of his mind that Zack had been sterilized three years past after taking a severe hit to his groin. What a messy ordeal it had been. He hadn't been present, but Angeal told him privately that he'd never seen so much blood from a groin injury, and he'd thought the organ had been torn entirely off.

Not so, only four stitches on his ballsack fixed Zack up, but unfortunately… he completely lost the part of his anatomy that made procreation possible. After the accident, his balls were silicone. Being his usual self he took it in stride, when asked about the accident, Zack simply said he had gotten ball augmentation surgery, and that they were perkier than ever.

It was a crime, because a man like Zack was born to be a father. He'd never have any children, and he was clearly designed to nurture others. The cruelty of this universe was unfathomable! Those goddamned tears returned, and Sephiroth sniffed and wiped his nose with one of the deli napkins, covering it up in what he hoped would look like a spicy nose-run.

After the threat of crying had dried and ebbed, Sephiroth had a sudden thought. "Do you want one?"

Zack shook his head and pointed to his plate. "No, I've got all I can handle, here."

"I meant one of the eggs."

"Eggs? With chili dogs?…" When Zack realized what was being offered, he choked so hard that Sephiroth had to laugh, the first time he'd done so in days.

"No, I don't want one!" Zack croaked when he could manage words. "You can't just give them away like kittens!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Don't call child protective services, I was just offering."

"I'll be good with just getting one named after me," Zack wheezed, then put more food in his mouth to pull down the rest that was stuck in his windpipe. "You should give the rest outrageous names like celebrities do!"

"The last thing I want is to call more attention to them."

"Don't strive for normalcy Seph, it's never gonna happen with these kids," Zack smiled. "Shoot for slightly strange, but expect Shit Town wacky; you won't be so disappointed, that way."

"You wouldn't be so cavalier about this if you were me, Zack, admit it."

Zack shrugged a shoulder. "At least they'll be halfway normal."

"How do you figure that?"

One side of Zack's mouth curved up. "I'm no scientist, but they are getting half of Cloud's genetics. He's as normal as can be. Maybe he'll even cancel out some of that weirdness."

Sephiroth mentally chewed on those words for a long, long time. He didn't know how to express anything he was feeling. Underneath the guard of the comforter, he hugged himself ever so slowly.

Half of Cloud's genetics.

Sephiroth's eyes widened with that realization. The eggs…the babies… were comprised of one entire half of Cloud. Half of Cloud's eyes, half of Cloud's hair, half of Cloud's silliness and drama and light. Half of Cloud's bullshit. Half!

He wouldn't be disappointed in them, even if they were insane, deranged little space aliens. Besides, it wasn't entirely his fault…they were half of Cloud's genetics.

Which half were they going to be? Would the mutants laugh like Cloud? Would they smile like Cloud? Would they be short like Cloud? Were they going to like to eat desserts before dinner and were they going to splash in the bathtub?

Sephiroth felt his heart rate pick up in his chest with…excitement.

It was going to be exciting to see what traits the babies were going to carry along of Cloud's. And the traits of his own that the babies were to suffer their lives with, he could feel more at ease with the knowledge that at least one entire half of each mutant was going to be… so exceptionally beautiful.

As was normal lately, any mushy thoughts of Cloud… or any thoughts of Cloud, really, tended to cause his eyes to swim with those stupid, goddamn fucking tears. He couldn't stop these ones though, they were far too heavy and insistent. He hid farther into the comforter, pulling it down over his eyes as to not alarm Zack, or be caught mooning over his lover.

Zack laid on his stomach next to him on the bed, his socked feet swaying near his head. Sephiroth finished cleaning his plate, and laid back in the bed, smiling idly while daytime television floated in one ear and out the other.

"This is the life," Zack decided after two episodes of Judge Joe Brown.

"No way, I hate being home," Sephiroth snorted. "I'd love to be doing paperwork and training third classes right about now."

After a moment, both of the seasoned SOLDIERs chuckled. That statement had been said with an almost straight face.

Sephiroth smiled and stretched out further. "But I must admit, after a few days of this, it does get rather dull."

Zack rolled over onto his side. "So, are you taking any time off at all after the babies arrive?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I guess whatever time it takes for me to recover from the delivery."

Zack nodded in understanding. "Yeah, you'll need a few days, maybe even a couple weeks. But you don't wanna take a little more time than that at first?"

"What would be appropriate?"

"Well, most new mothers – "

"Choose a different word, Zack."

Zack grimaced. "Uh…most new … fathers… who happen to be the ones that actually deliver the babies? Those kind of fathers take about six weeks, at least."

Sephiroth waved a hand. "I can't sit here for six extra weeks. I'm already starting to get cabin fever. Besides, Cloud's taking three fucking years to be with them. They won't be alone."

"But what about you? Won't you be a little put out, going to work all day, missing all the little burps and diaper changes and spit ups?"

"I'm sure I can do without."

Zack grinned. "I remember when my mom went back to work after my little sister was born. I used to take care of her after school. My crazy mother would call me up and tell me to feed my sister, so she could listen to her burp."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm obviously missing some essential functions of a woman. I'm not going to go into withdrawals for not hearing the little fuckers fart for eleven hours while I'm at work."

Zack grinned. "What essential functions do you have?"

"…Excuse me?"

"You said you're missing some essential functions. So you do have a few essential functions, right?" Zack laughed merrily, then just blurted out what he had been wondering all afternoon. "Did you grow tits, Sephiroth?"

Green eyes widened with hot, green anger. "You know I don't have fucking tits!"

"You might! God knows what you're hiding under there!"

"Not tits!" Sephiroth pled.

Zack then tilted his head. "That's true…they are hatchlings, aren't they? And things that lay eggs don't normally breast feed."

"Get the fuck out!" Sephiroth roared.

"In fact, most things that lay eggs don't really even have sex…" Zack giggled behind his hand. "How exactly did Cloud fertilize you?"

Sephiroth's foot shot out from under the blanket and pushed Zack onto the floor, where he began laughing so hard he simply stayed there. "Did you do a mating dance? Or did he fertilize you by spores?"

Sephiroth reached over the side of the bed and began doing any damage to Zack that he could; hair pulling, scratching, and sucker punching topped the list of petty injuries.

But still, Zack laughed whole-heartedly.

Then, he stopped.

Sephiroth had come out from under the blanket.

He didn't have tits. But, he did have something that wasn't there before.

When Sephiroth realized he was exposed, he looked down at his abdomen with a red face. It bumped up under his cotton v-neck. Nothing grotesquely huge, but to Sephiroth, it was as though he were stark naked.

He was about to hide like a child, when Zack came up on his knees for a closer look.

"Holy shit, Seph." Zack murmured. Something inside his straight male senses always knew that Sephiroth was a beautiful man, but he looked… absolutely radiant. His skin wasn't pale, it was glowing. His eyes weren't just neon green, they were pulsing with light. His hair wasn't white, it reflected some sort of inner light like strands of soft glass. Every inch of Sephiroth was completely alive. For reasons he didn't want to address, Zack blinked and felt himself begin to breathe faster. "…Holy shit."

Before he could blink a second time, everything was hidden back underneath the comforter.

"This will be over in another month," Sephiroth finally said.

Zack cleared his throat. "Yeah. No big deal. You got off easy, it coulda been like… nine months."

"Just go if you want to," Sephiroth said, coughing a little under the blanket. He could tell Zack was now uncomfortable, and if he wasn't, he should have been.

"I'll stay 'til Cloud comes home," Zack decided, settling back in bed next to Sephiroth. He didn't want to run away like he was disgusted, or scared. He wanted Sephiroth to know that he still had a buddy, outlandish beauty or not.

Sephiroth felt as though Zack were taking it upon himself to babysit him. But… he allowed it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cloud decided that what Sephiroth needed was to be romanced, just a little bit.

After all, Cloud had never been more in love with him. Sephiroth was as prickly and hard headed as ever, but he was also a sacred vessel of their children and the most gorgeous thing in existence. The mere peeks and glimpses Cloud had gotten recently were killing him.

He'd never had to wait for sex before. He'd never had to play his cards right; it had always been Sephiroth coaxing him, guiding him and setting all the rules. They'd always just known when the time was right to go after each other, but Sephiroth's blanket act was getting old. Even though he might be a bit too uncomfortable for sex… a few hot kisses would do just fine.

Cloud decided to sweep him off of his feet tonight! He knew that Zack had done his job well when he received a text from him saying he would be staying with Sephiroth all afternoon. He'd be happier, he'd be in the mood for talking. Talking led to laughing, laughing led to kissing, and kissing led to fucking. That was their romantic equation.

Cloud turned into a florist shop. He knew Sephiroth would revolt at the idea of being on the receiving end of a bouquet of flowers, but not if they were made of chocolate. And even if he did scoff or turn his nose up, he would at least know that he was being constantly thought about. Cloud giddily purchased two dozen of them, and practically skipped down the sidewalk to their apartment.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by sounds of almost hysterical laughter. He hadn't seen Sephiroth's face, let alone graced with a smile in days. He couldn't wait to join in. Cloud peeked his blonde, spiky head into the bedroom, but the laughter died down almost immediately.

"Hey Cloud!" Zack greeted.

Sephiroth laid there with the blanket still wrapped around him like a protective shield. His smile drifted off of his face and turned into something different altogether. Something unreadable. Cloud stood in the doorway in slight shock. Had Sephiroth always been so… incredibly fucking beautiful? Of course he had, but… damn.

He knew Zack would have been able to do it. To bring him out into the open, to entertain him and lighten his spirits. But he couldn't help feeling like an intruder in their bedroom, like he had walked into something that he was not supposed to see.

Was that unreadable expression on Sephiroth's face… anger?

Cloud was glad he was holding the flowers behind his back, as he would have felt even more awkward standing there, somehow denied by his lover without him having to utter a word. He faked a grin, "Hey guys. Have a fun day?"

Zack made a giddy sound and nodded. Sephiroth said nothing. Cloud nodded and left the doorway, setting the flowers delicately in the stark empty refrigerator. He sighed, knowing he was going to have to go to the store, and after having already gone twice this week already.

He was suddenly tired. He wanted to just lay down and go to sleep, but knew this had to be done. He then realized with a shallow gasp that his sleeping days were probably all behind him. As soon as the babies arrived, he'd probably not get a decent night's sleep for another 10 years, at least. What a pity.

"I'm running out to the store, do you guys want anything special?" He called from the kitchen.

Sephiroth actually found it in his heart to respond, "'Fridge door."

Cloud scowled and slammed the refrigerator door shut, then noticed the note pinned to it. No smiley faces or punctuation dotted with hearts, it was just a grocery list. A lengthy grocery list.

"Skinned peaches…grapefruit…kiwi… pickled cherries?…watermelon…walnuts…" Cloud looked up at the ceiling in defeat as the list of asinine food went on and on. Muenster cheese. Chocolate covered raisins. Cinnamon rolls. Pork rinds. Non-fat rice pudding, with the non-fat part underlined.

"Geez, what's the use of the rice pudding being non-fat?" Cloud grumbled to himself as he shoved the note into his pocket and rolled his eyes as he walked into the bedroom. "Look, this is gonna take me a while. I'm really hungry and tired, so could you guys order pizza for dinner or something so it can be here when I get back?"

Zack nodded enthusiastically. "What do you want on yours?"

"I like everything. No olives though, please…" Cloud looked at Sephiroth, waiting for a smile, a thank you, something. Anything.

He got nothing. Cloud did an about face and left the apartment for the grocery store.

He knew he'd done nothing to deserve to be looked through as though he weren't even standing there. He pushed the cart stormily through the market, filling it with the various junk food items and fruit that Sephiroth had oh-so-royally requested. Thank goodness he had written a note, or Cloud's poor little mind couldn't have fathomed remembering the non-fat rice fucking pudding.

Cloud was getting angrier by the minute! Did he actually mind doing things for Sephiroth, taking care of Sephiroth, waiting on Sephiroth hand and foot? Of course he didn't. He loved it, in fact. It made him feel needed, it made him feel important, it made him feel whole to do things for the person he loved.

But there was a difference in feeling needed, and feeling loved. And lately… Cloud was not feeling loved. A smile. A kiss. Hell, to be talked to like a human being would have sufficed for Cloud. It'd be a step up from the current dynamic of Sephiroth hiding himself away out of shame or fear, and barking out impatient orders.

Cloud stopped dead in front of the croutons. What if this entire ordeal had somehow… finally caused Sephiroth to stop loving him?

Stranger things had happened. His male, homosexual lover was currently pregnant with five of their children. That was pretty fucking strange. To think that that man in particular might have let his romantic feelings permanently wane for the one who had put him in such a predicament… was not very strange, at all.

Cloud felt tears blur his vision. Things had been going so well! They were keeping the babies… they had gone out baby window shopping… they had begun making appointments to visit larger apartments… they had begun packing up their current residence… Why now? Why when things were all coming together so nicely?

Cloud began creating nightmare scenarios in his head while standing in the checkout line.

If they were to separate, for real this time… for good… what would happen to the babies? He had a little bit of money, but there'd be no way to live off of his meager savings with five children, and he couldn't care for them and work at the same time. Would Sephiroth pay child support? Would he fight for custody? If he did, he would no doubt win. In that case, it would be Cloud who'd have to pay the child support for five kids! He'd have to work constantly! And would Sephiroth let him see the babies?

He can't do this! Cloud thought to himself as he furiously swiped his credit card through the machine, slightly alarming the checkout girl. Angry, half formed notions swirled in his head. He took the receipt and stuffed it in his pocket, then thought better of it. Sephiroth was a notorious budgeteer, and had made different slots in Cloud's wallet for different receipts, so they could begin planning a proper budget for when the babies arrived.

The slot for this receipt was titled "Baby Food" since that's what Cloud had affectionately begun to refer to Sephiroth's rapid consumption of food as. Cloud put the receipt gently into the slot and felt his anger dissolve.

He loved Sephiroth. With all his heart. He didn't want to break up or fight in court over custody, he wanted to raise them together, to be together, to love each other as they had been. That was how things were supposed to be.

He wheeled the cart home, then left it in an alley next to the building. He lugged the load up the steps, marveling at just how fucking heavy fruit could be. He hauled it through the door and was greeted by the smell of hot pizza. He'd forgotten all about it, and was absolutely famished.

He dropped all the bags on the floor with a pained grunt, and bumped into Zack as he came bouncing into the kitchen. "Hey, lemme help."

Cloud gratefully accepted, the two of them exchanging questioning glances at the items Sephiroth had requested. When they were done, Zack migrated towards the door. "I had dinner plans with Aerith tonight. I don't mean to run out or anything, but I need to split."

Cloud smiled, "You ruined your appetite with pizza!"

"Naw, I only had half of one! Anyways…" Zack ruffled Cloud's hair, "Have a good night, see you at work tomorrow! I'll be there all day and night, s'what I get for slacking with Seph today!"

The door slammed and he was gone. Save for the noise from the television in their room, the place was pin drop silent without Zack's presence. Cloud filled a plate with food and made his way into their room.

He was going to make Sephiroth love him again if it took all night.

He moved quickly across the floor and settled into bed beside Sephiroth, close enough that their thighs touched. "What are you watching?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Cloud looked at the television screen and saw an animation style that could only have been South Park.

Cloud blushed. It had felt like a natural question to ask. And he'd just wanted to say something. He only sighed and began to eat, trying to keep it quiet, chewing softly and slowly. When he was done, his mouth tingled a little bit with heat and spice. He gently got up and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. If he was going to be romantic, he certainly couldn't do that with pizza breath.

He then went to the 'fridge to get Sephiroth's gift. He went slowly back into the bedroom and approached Sephiroth's side of the bed.

Sephiroth's eyes coolly moved to him from the television. He opened his mouth to ask what Cloud was doing, when he brought the chocolate flowers out from behind his back.

"I love you, Sephiroth," Cloud blurted. "I was thinking about you all day. You seem so upset lately, but… god you're beautiful. And I love you so much. I always will – "

Sephiroth shot up from the bed, and before Cloud could blink, he stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Cloud was stunned. He stood there looking at the rumpled spot on the bed where Sephiroth had been, and then turned on his heel to look at the bathroom door.

Was Sephiroth sick? Cloud approached to listen for sounds of retching. There were none. "…Seph?"

"Just go away, alright?" Sephiroth said from the other side.

He didn't have it in his heart to just knock on the door. No, he assaulted it with his fist. Probably a lot harder than he had intended to, since a photo in a frame next to the door leapt off of the wall and shattered.

He didn't care. Cloud was fucking angry, now. He shouted at the door, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

There was no response from the other side.

Cloud then beat the door several times, stopping only when the wood splintered a little bit. "I'm not leaving until you come out! And if you don't come out, I'll beat the door down!"

He heard Sephiroth clear his throat on the other side. "You're affecting the resale value of this place, you know."

If Cloud had been a notch or two calmer, he might have actually laughed at that. But he was way too far into the red. "Open this goddamn door and tell me what's wrong!"

"Not right now."

"Why not!?"

Sephiroth cleared his throat again and inhaled in loudly. "I'm not going to argue with you. Get the hell away from the door."

"Fine!" Cloud said with another angry beat that left a clear, fist-sized imprint. "If you don't want me around you, I'll stay the fuck away from you!…" He didn't know what else to say, but needed to make some sort of noise. "Far, far away from you!"

He almost threw the flowers at the door, but set them on the nightstand, instead. He didn't want to be more childish than he already was, but he just couldn't take it. There were obviously no words in his vocabulary that Sephiroth wanted to hear.

Maybe it was finally over.

Cloud left the room and closed the door hard behind him, went to the hall closet and took some spare blankets, and stormed into Sephiroth's home office. He knew the couch in there was more comfortable to lay on than the one in the living room. He'd had plenty of experience on it.

As he laid down, he was so angry that his diaphragm vibrated with the desire to scream, his fists balled up in the blankets with the urge to hit something, to tear something apart. Like a restless cat, he clawed at the cushions to the couch before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths, pressing his face into the soft, foamy material. He wanted Sephiroth to follow, to yell at him about breaking the picture and splintering the door, because an angry form of love was still love.

But Sephiroth apparantly didn't even harbor angry love, anymore.

Cloud began to weep.

The couch in the office was the first place they'd ever made love. He'd heard from friends that their first times had been hasty, unremarkable or even painful. Not his. Sephiroth had been so careful, so gentle. Neither wanted to migrate to the bedroom in case the other might change their mind on the way there. So it happened right there on that couch.

They'd staked a claim on each other that afternoon. Sephiroth had declared that Cloud belonged to him. Cloud had agreed whole heartedly.

Now, at a time when that should have meant something more important than ever, it seemed to mean nothing.

Just when all in the world seemed to be lost and hopeless, Cloud heard Sephiroth enter the room. He stilled against the cushions, not lifting his face up. His breath stopped and he waited.

He jolted a little bit when he felt hands on him, because he expected a harsh touch. Instead, it was as is though his remembrance had taken form; the hands were gentle, soothing, and warm. Sephiroth got on his knees in front of the couch, and draped himself over Cloud's back. His face was close to Cloud's ear, enough so that he could feel his breath moving smoothly in and out.

Cloud lifted his head out of the cushions. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't."

"Then why – "

Cloud was cut off by a sound he'd never heard before. Sephiroth clutched him, and then broke down. He fell apart with emotion, his furrowed brow digging into Cloud's neck. He seemed to be fighting to breathe, and swallowing loud sobs. His long fingers clutched at Cloud's clothes, and he began to bestow wet kisses along the back of Cloud's neck.

"Past few days… whenever I see you…or… think about you," Sephiroth whispered against his ear, hot tears dripping against his neck and wetting his hair. "All I want to do is cry."

Cloud paused and then felt an elation like which he'd never felt before in his life. He turned over and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's neck. "So you don't want me to leave!?"

"You're not going anywhere," Sephiroth huffed, his voice thick with tears. "Why are you always so damn quick to assume?"

Cloud laughed happily, "Because you were acting like you didn't love me anymore!"

Sephiroth made a noise as if such a thing were impossible. He shifted to wrap his arms fully around Cloud, cradling him from his spot on the floor. He unloaded the ever-insistent water in his eyes.

Cloud had cried for him out of love, anger and sadness hundreds of times during their time together. Sephiroth felt that he owed him – and maybe was owed – one good, hard cry. Just one. He could always blame it on hormones, which probably were at fault… but it felt like something that had been building for a long while.

"I love you so much," Sephiroth confessed, pressing his wet cheek to Cloud's.

"I'm so happy to hear you say that," Cloud sighed, running a hand up to brush the wet strands of silver away from Sephiroth's face.

"You were so cute with the fucking flowers!" Sephiroth suddenly hiccupped helplessly as a fresh gail of sobs racked his muscular frame.

Cloud couldn't help but giggle joyously. Sephiroth shuddered a little too, deep laughter bubbling up from underneath the tears.

Sephiroth then looked at Cloud full on. His eyes flicked across his small, fair face and he sighed, almost in relief. "…Okay. I think I'm over the crying, for the time being."

"It's okay to cry," Cloud told him, echoing a sentiment that Sephiroth himself usually felt whenever the blonde broke down into emotional tears.

Although he didn't ever see it as weak, he didn't want Cloud to think of him as weak, or somehow softening because of his condition. Sephiroth took a hold of Cloud's hair and kissed him, probably a bit too roughly for the moment, but Cloud didn't seem to mind either way.

He gasped up into the kiss and returned it, his entire body rejoicing under the warmth and taste of Sephiroth's mouth. Cloud broke the kiss and took Sephiroth's face in his hands. "Don't ever shut me out like that again. Please? I don't care if you burst into tears every single time you talk to me… just don't block me out. I was worried."

Sephiroth nodded absently, one wild hand running up into Cloud's shirt. Sephiroth could think of nothing to say because apologies always seemed somewhat useless to him, he just wanted to touch him. Then he looked up and into his blue eyes, feeling small pinpricks of hard edged emotion bubbling back up already.

Cloud pulled Sephiroth by the arms until he laid down on top of him. The tummy between them was hard and unmistakable. Cloud looked down at it, fascinated and curious. "Can I touch you?"

One side of Sephiroth's face winced slightly, but he nodded. "…Go ahead."

Cloud cupped his hands over the bump, naturally expecting some sort of kick. "Do you ever feel them move?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No. Well, sometimes I think I feel… shifting. But I may be imagining it."

Cloud smiled. Sephiroth usually never questioned anything he thought or felt. "You probably aren't…" He let one hand trail down into Sephiroth's pants, finding him stiff against the material.

"Maybe not…" Sephiroth breathed, one hand planting next to Cloud on the couch. He never thought he'd find himself aroused in the middle of a discussion about the mutants, but he definitely was, this time.

Cloud didn't want to tell Sephiroth that he glowed in the moonlight like an angel. He let his hands and body do the telling for him. He absolutely worshipped Sephiroth, and he didn't feel any shame in it. He sat up and scooted to the edge of the couch, wrapping his legs around Sephiroth's waist and sucking gently at his mouth. His hands slid down Sephiroth's sides and down the back of his flannel pants.

Sephiroth could feel the enthusiasm from Cloud, but had to ask. "This doesn't gross you out at all?"

Cloud shook his head as it became increasingly more evident that he certainly did not. He tugged the pants down Sephiroth's hips, and couldn't fathom how Sephiroth could think of a single centimeter of his body as undesirable. His back was broad and strong, his legs were long and lean. His chest was still hard and muscular, as was his stomach, if a little convex at the moment. To Cloud, his body looked like a feast, the hardness and masculinity all leading up to that unexpected curve.

Cloud's eyes fluttered closed and he pressed his forehead into Sephiroth's shoulder. His desire and current train of thought had nothing to do with children, even as his hands firmly cradled the sensitive, new area of Sephiroth's stomach.

Sephiroth would have recoiled if he felt that Cloud's touch was aimed at what was inside of him, or if his excited was feigned in any sort of way. But Cloud's fingers were for him, plain and simple. They dug into his skin, then scratched naillessly across it, around to his back then down.

He cradled Sephiroth's ass for a moment before trading positions and putting the taller man on the couch. Cloud slid down onto the floor between his knees and reached beneath his thighs and finished tugging down his pants, nearly groaning as they exposed those never ending legs.

Cloud licked Sephiroth's knee and kissed his way up the smooth limb. He smiled before abruptly closing his mouth around Sephiroth's balls, sucking one wetly into his mouth. His fist tightened around his cock and coasted slowly up and down, and Cloud had to wonder how Sephiroth could possibly question his own masculinity.

He was sloppy as he let his tongue dart beneath the sensitive sack and trail up the length of him. Cloud never got tired of the way Sephiroth tasted, always so clean and sharp from the soap he used, and hot on his tongue like ginger candy. He let his throat open and slide down onto Sephiroth's cock, his lips framing around the girth of him tightly.

Sephiroth sighed and watched, almost unconsciously pulling down the hem of his shirt where it had ridden up slightly. He felt himself try to suck in against the swell that distracted from his view of Cloud, but he had left it relaxed long enough that it had settled into the curve. Cloud noticed his insecurity and made an impatient noise around his cock, and deliberately moved the shirt up to where it had been.

Sephiroth put a dominant hand on top of Cloud's head to set him back to work, and tugged his shirt down again.

Cloud snatched Sephiroth's hand and held it down onto the couch cushion. He let his cock slip from between his lips and licked them. "Don't be fussy."

Sephiroth scowled. "I'm not."

"Take your shirt off, then."

Sephiroth shook his head. "Just leave it."

They'd had plenty of sex before while partially clothed, sometimes both of them fully clothed to the point the only place bare skin showed was where it was required for penetration. But Sephiroth had been completely covered for days. Cloud wanted to enjoy his nudity, and frankly, they had the time. The earlier realization that Cloud wouldn't be sleeping much very soon brought about the realization that they probably weren't going to get many chances to enjoy each other so thoroughly, either.

Cloud shoved Sephiroth's other hand down onto the couch. "You should let me do what I want tonight."

"Oh?" Sephiroth said, a flicker of challenge lighting up his features.

"Yeeeah," Cloud purred, biting the edge of Sephiroth's shirt with a smile. "You always end up liking it when I have my way… remember?"

"You're spoiled."

Cloud nodded, pulling the shirt up a bit with his teeth. "Take it off for me?"

Sephiroth looked as though he actually wouldn't have minded it, but for the sake of being an obstinate prick, he shook his head. "No."

As strong as Sephiroth was, Cloud was fast. He bit Sephiroth's shirt tight, and leaned up his body, and snapped it snugly right over Sephiroth's head. He then grabbed his taller lover's wrists and pinned them back into place.

Sephiroth was utterly beaten behind the white cotton. "Very cute."

Cloud smiled and kissed Sephiroth's chest, licking between the firm muscles. It was meant to be a quick prank, but he was finding himself very distracted and not exactly interested in letting Sephiroth free. "I might actually like this…" Then, the devil in Cloud Strife made him chuckle as he added, "I've seen too much of your pretty face lately, anyways."

Sephiroth tried to break free but Cloud held him fast, just barely maintaining control of him. His vulnerable position with his legs spread and Cloud's weight kept him from breaking loose with just a casual use of his strength. As much as he wanted to be let go, and could have easily forced it… some sort of tarty curiosity held him back. But he did growl, "Better believe I'm getting you back for this."

"Oh, anytime," Cloud invited, letting his tongue linger over the hardened, pink peaks of Sephiroth's nipples. Many, many times Cloud had found himself bound and blindfolded with Sephiroth's uniform straps. He'd never been hurt, only teased at length as Sephiroth slowly and thoroughly sampled, kissed and licked every inch of his body.

He recalled his embarrassment the first time, only because he'd never in his life had his body laved with so much attention, not even from himself. The feeling of being so adored and treasured was amazing, and even though it was not exactly what he'd intended to happen with Sephiroth when he bought him the chocolate flowers earlier in the evening, this would do nicely.

He felt Sephiroth shudder in anticipation despite his protests, the little nubs' sensitivity had become almost unbearable. Sephiroth grunted when Cloud bit one, pulling it gently with his teeth.

Sephiroth couldn't see, but keenly felt Cloud's fingertips dig rhythmically into his wrists as his mouth and tongue moved back and forth across his chest between the two small, hard points of intense sensitivity. Just when the attention was hinting at crossing the line from something pleasurable to something more painful, Cloud backed off of them and kissed down Sephiroth's stomach to resume what had been interrupted.

Even though Sephiroth seemed to be into the game, Cloud didn't want to let his wrists go. So he used his tongue to lift Sephiroth's erection up off of his stomach and tilted his head to slip it back into his mouth. Even though the feeling of that little maneuver was fine in and of itself, Sephiroth was dying to see. He could make out some vague shapes behind the cotton, and perhaps could have seen through it if the lights had been on in the room, but he was stuck imagining what Cloud must have looked like sucking his cock, unable to position it with his hands. He imagined it must have been nudging his cheek a bit, and that caused him to shift a little in the wild desire to see it.

Cloud's hands tightened on his wrists, but he didn't drop the length from his mouth, only worked to get into a rhythm without the use of his hands. He kissed the tip and moved his open mouth along the underside, sucking at the vein through the sensitive skin.

Sephiroth lifted his hips a little, spreading them only slightly. It was enough to send a message, and Cloud decided that he might actually need one of his hands to progress further. He brought Sephiroth's wrists together and held them with one hand. He thought it was somewhat amusing that his fingers were unable to touch around both of Sephiroth's wrists together like that. Even though he wasn't even close to being actually held down anymore, for the sake of the game, Sephiroth didn't break free.

Cloud brought his usable hand to his mouth, sucking on his fingers for a moment before letting them wander down between Sephiroth's legs. Sephiroth arched as was necessary to reach his opening, but Cloud felt like being a bit… forceful. He took one of Sephiroth's thighs and forced it up, granting him far easier access. He dipped his fingers inside, letting them ease past the tight barrier and into the smooth heat.

Sephiroth gasped inside his throat, and Cloud watched him swallow it, his long throat working, visible underneath the mask of the t-shirt. Cloud let his fingers play the way a pianist warms up before a performance. He let two sink inside, while the rest teased the sensitive areas surrounding the peach-colored hole. He let his mouth wander as well, worshipping Sephiroth's leanly muscled thighs and up further, licking and nibbling on the one partially exposed asscheek.

"C'mon Cloud," Sephiroth panted behind his shirt.

Cloud ignored him, captivated instead by Sephiroth's fingers. They flexed, stretched out, and curled back into his palm over and over. He seemed to be fighting with himself to remain under Cloud's control.

"Cloud," Sephiroth repeated impatiently. His fingers continued to communicate his frustration, and again Cloud said nothing to him.

Instead, he went back to work. He kissed along Sephiroth's groin, underneath his balls down to his opening, and removed his fingers. Sephiroth's entire lower body tensed, and Cloud heard some sort of meaningless demand or warning. He tuned it out. He was going to do what he wanted.

He flicked his tongue out and circled the puckered opening, feeling its slight looseness due to his fingers. He closed his eyes and pushed his tongue in, flexing it within the confines of his lover's body. He'd never tasted anything quite like it, the closest being sucking Sephiroth after he had been inside of himself. But this taste was more of that hotness and ginger, less of the tangy aftertaste of soap.

Although he tensed and made grunting noises of shock, Sephiroth did not force Cloud to stop. Cloud pushed his tongue in further, and when he found resistance, he pushed his fingers back in, letting them scissor and further prepare Sephiroth.

He found his prostate easily and rubbed it in tight, quick circles.

"Fuck! Cloud!" Sephiroth called out, his head digging back into the couch cushions.

Cloud chuckled and began rubbing the circles in the opposite direction.

For one furious moment, one of Sephiroth's wrists broke free. His hand reached out for Cloud, and stopped just short of his hair. Cloud looked at the hand with wide blue eyes like a deer in the woods catching scent of a hunter, still and waiting to see what that hand would do. The fingers curled into a fist, paused as if it was unsure of what to do itself, and then fell to the couch cushion.

Cloud's heart began to pound in victory. Sephiroth was obviously still fighting with himself, and he felt very much like tempting fate, so he thrust in a third finger and continued caressing the most intensely sensitive spot of his lover's body. Sephiroth dug his fingers into the couch cushion and Cloud heard something rip in the fabric.

He slowly withdrew his fingers and panted a little as he undid his belt. Sephiroth heard the sound and seemed to freeze, then fully relaxed back into the couch. Cloud liked having that effect on him. He also liked watching Sephiroth's body language without the distraction of those piercing eyes or those kissable lips.

He missed those eyes and lips, though. After he pushed his pants off, he leaned over Sephiroth and rubbed his nose through the fabric and kissed his lips. They were already parted, and Cloud felt them move with him beyond the thin cotton material. A tongue darted out to press against his but Cloud didn't remove the shirt from over his head, and Sephiroth didn't lift his hand from the couch.

The game was still on.

Cloud backed away from the kiss. Before Sephiroth could gather his thoughts to make a command, Cloud was already inside him.

They both moaned with the sudden, pleasurable shock of it. Cloud's hand greedily groped all the way up one of Sephiroth's long thighs, and he pushed it up to give himself room to kneel before him on the couch. Sephiroth's legs wrapped around him, pulling him in deeper.

So maybe Sephiroth had a little control. That was fine because Cloud still had most of it.

He fell into a rhythm against Sephiroth; his strokes were gentle, long, but quick. He braced one hand next to Sephiroth's head on the backrest of the couch and let the other paw at his legs, his chest, his hips and, finally, his groin. Sephiroth was already dribbling and Cloud ran his fingers through the familiar liquid, spreading it over Sephiroth's cock as he stroked him in time.

Sephiroth cried out deeply with every quick, hard little jab of his sweet spot and Cloud whimpered and whined through the tight, gripping pull of his thrusts. Anyone on the other side of the wall would have assumed that their positions were switched, but their vocal expressions of pleasure didn't change much, even if their configuration did.

Cloud squeezed and pressured the tip of Sephiroth's cock. He coaxed and chanted, "Lemme see it, lemme see, I wanna see it" hardly realizing he was speaking at all.

Sephiroth heard him loud and clear though, and felt his body begin to tighten to the point where the pleasure became something else entirely, something wild and all consuming. He arched up and his orgasm shot out of him, landing against Cloud's torso in thick, haphazard streaks.

Cloud felt like his body was pouring lava into Sephiroth's, he snapped against him for a few hectic moments before the intensity became a sharp, but pleasant pulse. While he was still throbbing within him, Cloud pulled the shirt up over Sephiroth's head and found him flushed and sweaty, his eyes lidded with contentment.

Cloud kissed his lips, an overflow of tenderness spilling out of him. He pulled out and immediately straddled Sephiroth's hips. He tucked his hands up under his chin and pressed his forehead against Sephiroth's shoulder, begging without words to be held.

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around Cloud and kissed his shoulders and neck, his hands kneaded into the cooling sweat covering his back. They panted, lying against each other for a while, letting their pulses slow and their breaths ease down. Sephiroth pressed his lips to Cloud's forehead. "You're good, you know that?"

Cloud grinned. "I'm just well-taught."

Sephiroth made a dismissive sound. "You were always good. Always exactly what I needed."

That made Cloud prop his chin up on Sephiroth's chest in thought. "Seph… do you think you'll be happy with how our life is about to change?"

Sephiroth took a long pause. "Christ. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts…"

Cloud shook his head. "No, I want this more than anything. I just want to know if you're going to be happy… Even with having to get up at three in the morning for feedings, or having to basically live in a perpetual mess, having to be quiet during sex or maybe not even have it at all? I know I can deal with that, because that part doesn't have to last so long. When kids get older it gets easier, and we'll have help… but for the beginning part, the hardest part…I want to know if…"

Cloud struggled to say the next part. Sephiroth was patient, and simply waited. Finally, he found the right way to express his worries. "I need to know that you won't leave."

Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling. "And where would I go?"

"I'm serious. I want you to know that no matter how hard it might be, that I'm in this with you. I don't want to be without you. I don't want to fight or lose sight of the fact that we're in love. I don't want some temporary difficulty to split up our family."

"Oh, God," Sephiroth groaned in a way that might have implied agitation, but Cloud knew now that he'd simply caused a rainfall of tears. He spoke seriously behind the salty drops, "I don't know what's going to happen. For all I know you could walk out the door tomorrow and never come back. Just…we shouldn't worry about us so much," Sephiroth actually laughed, not the hysterical sort of manly laugh he shared with Zack, but an unguarded and slightly gentle laugh he only seemed to do for Cloud. "Because there seems to be more to us now than just us. We became a fucking crowd."

Cloud laughed with him, because they certainly had. "I think the manic part has passed for me. I've just been thinking about the day-to-day aspects, the real shit, you know? It's gonna be amazing, but it's gonna be hard. We'll be alright, right?"

"If you're over the baby powder and rainbows part… I'm over the part about being angry. To tell you the truth, lately I really think… I really think this is going to be fun, Cloud."

"To tell you the truth," Cloud murmured, staring into Sephiroth's eyes. " I think getting knocked up has made you a better man. And I don't want to lose you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Getting Sephiroth to the labs for his baby appointment became a challenge. Sephiroth didn't want to be seen by anybody, under any circumstance.

So, Cloud learned that the Shin-Ra building had a secret entrance, used by the Shin-Ra family, the Generals, and other high ranking officials. He'd never wondered before why he'd never seen Sephiroth walk in the front door, it made sense.

But still, the secret entrance wasn't quite secret enough for Sephiroth's tastes. So, to get his lover to his appointment on time and unseen, Cloud had to carefully time and orchestrate Sephiroth's arrival with the help of Zack, the front desk girl, a squad of grunts, five clueless Turks, and a two alarm fire.

Finally, Sephiroth had made it inside completely undetected.

He was then poked, prodded, examined and cooed over by Aerith with Cloud's gushing assistance. It might have brought back some unpleasant memories, but both of them were so harmless and gentle in their work that Sephiroth actually cooperated without any verbal complaints. But after she weighed Sephiroth, Aerith seemed to be writing a lot more than she was saying.

"What?" Sephiroth finally asked, tired of waiting for her little pink springy pen to stop bouncing.

Aerith frowned at him, which was not exactly professional. She caught Cloud and Sephiroth's worried stares, and brought out her poker face. "Oh! Nothing's wrong, it's just that you're not gaining as much weight as I'd like."

Sephiroth's forehead wrinkled. "I can't possibly eat anymore than I already do. And I'm just sitting around doing nothing! And besides, they're eggs. How can they be taking food from me?"

"I can't be certain of anything because, let's face it, I know almost nothing about what's happening to you," Aerith sighed. "But babies are a massive energy drain from any mother – ah … carrier of babies. There's a compartment for self contained nourishment, but it grows along with the eggs, so therefore the same amount of material wouldn't fill it. I believe the babies fed themselves in the beginning, but now they're taking it from you like little tapeworms."

"Hmf," Sephiroth grunted. "I knew they were parasites."

"Just keep on resting and eating. Are you taking your vitamins?"

Sephiroth scowled. The vitamins were prenatal and were issued in a pink bottle. He'd immediately transferred them into an empty bottle of men's health tablets. "Yes. I've been doing everything you've been telling me to do."

"I'm not worried about you, then. You're probably the healthiest person I've ever looked at," Aerith smiled. "I just want your little ones to be healthy, too."

"I wanna see them!" Cloud declared, hugging Sephiroth's arm. "Let's get to that part!"

Aerith grinned in agreement, "It's been almost two weeks and I'd like to take another look, myself!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes a little and stood up. He pulled his shirt off and rolled his pants down over the curve on his lower stomach. Cloud was so well-fucked and in such good spirits, he decided to whistle flirtatiously, causing Aerith to giggle.

Sephiroth snapped his fingers in Cloud's face, clearly feigning his objection. "I'm not a piece of meat."

Cloud grinned and kept quiet, and then his mood settled into anxious nerves. Sephiroth hadn't exactly been talking about them as though they were babies, yet. Hopefully this would show sexes and maybe even some facial features. Even though there was only a short time left to wait, Cloud was dying to see their children.

Aerith prepped Sephiroth and soon there was an image on the ultrasound.

The eggs were clearly bigger than last time, only three visible on the monitor, and closer together. The forms inside the eggs were grown almost to the point of touching the shell wall, their stumpy limbs curled closer in on themselves to render them into the typical fetal position.

"Fingers," Aerith said, touching the monitor with a pointer. "Toes. Two arms, two legs. No sign of any extra appendages, except of course – "

"Tails," Sephiroth finished for her. He tilted his head, looking closely at one of the tiny creatures, which seemed to have the end of its' tail wrapped in its' hands.

Cloud for some reason felt the need to whisper, perhaps because the babies appeared to be sleeping. "Can you tell the sexes?"

Aerith smiled. "We can't see the other two, and this little one's turned away from us. But I know what those two are."

"Don't leave us in suspense," Sephiroth said dryly, surprisingly Cloud a little with his interest.

"Congratulations. These two are boys."

Cloud cheered happily, bouncing up and down where he sat. Now he had the ability to buy things for baby boys, at least! Sephiroth smiled with one side of his mouth, looking at the two that were supposedly male. Aerith felt an unspoken need from him to see proof, so she took the liberty of pointing the "proof" out on the monitor.

"Very clearly boys," She smiled.

"So!" Cloud giggled, tugging on Sephiroth's arm. "We've got two little boys on the way! What do you think?"

Sephiroth lifted his hand to scratch his nose, but anyone could tell he was attempting to hide a smile. He failed. Finally he said, "What I think, is that the birds and the bees talk is gonna be really complicated with those two.'

CHAPTER IMAGE – http://owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/art/MPREG-meme-116994454

A/N

1 – Don't fret.

2 – I know nothing about science, babies, pregnancy, or the universe. I'm truly, really making everything up. Please don't correct my fake science, haha.

3 – MPREEEEEEEEG!


	7. 79 Days

The world began to spin faster. Days became shorter, nights became instantaneous.

In a few more blinks, Sephiroth and Cloud were going to be fathers.

Cloud knew things needed to happen, and fast. But no matter what he did, it felt like moving in slow motion. They needed a manny. They needed a new apartment. And they needed baby shit. Lots and lots of baby shit.

It seemed as though once Sephiroth and Cloud saw that their children were semi-normal in form, Sephiroth began to grow at an absurd rate. Although he wasn't hiding under the blanket anymore, he still wasn't happy with his expanding figure. Not one of his slim fit shirts would cover him, and he couldn't buckle his pants or leather coat either.

He couldn't bear to buy anything new that might fit him, claiming that it was a waste of money. According to him, after permanently evicting the mutants he would be back in shape in two weeks.

Cloud had raised a doubtful eyebrow, to which Sephiroth held up two fingers and poked him between the eyes. "Two fucking weeks. Even if it kills me. If Gwen Stefani can do it, I can do it."

Cloud had laughed until he almost literally wet himself. He loved the precious moments where Sephiroth truly sounded like a complete and utter faggot.

But when Sephiroth had resorted to becoming a nudist in his denial, Cloud finally bought him some sweatpants and t-shirts that would fit, against his wishes. He made sure they were designer as to appeal to Sephiroth's aesthetic sensibilities. It worked, and Sephiroth put some clothes on.

Not that Cloud didn't enjoy Sephiroth lying around so nude and available. Whether Sephiroth liked it or not, Cloud was a man and seeing his partner carry his children sparked something primordial inside of him. It was beyond thought or reason, it was just nature. He caught himself idly petting Sephiroth's growing stomach, admiring how perfect and lovely the curve was.

Sephiroth objected to this at first, but then became hesitantly used to it. Maybe it was because he only had a couple weeks to go, or because he had accepted the outlandish idea of bearing children as reality. Or maybe it was because he just plain enjoyed the affection. But slowly, looking in the mirror was less of a difficult thing, and he was able to calmly move through his days with all five eggs in tow.

He tried to sense anything he could about the eggs, whether they were moving, whether they were growing, whether they were being nourished. He could sense nothing at all about them, other than the fact that one egg was determined to sit on his bladder, thus causing him to go to the bathroom constantly.

He kept eating, but nipped the junk food habit he'd begun to indulge in right in the bud. He didn't want to gain any more fat, but rather fuel himself and the eggs with whole foods. He'd had a washboard stomach since he was a teenager, being overweight wasn't even something he'd even considered with his militant lifestyle. While Cloud was poring over childcare magazines, he was engrossed in men's fitness, planning out his strategy for the quick regain of his legendary physique.

"Cloud, I'm going to get stretch marks, aren't I?" Sephiroth lamented in bed one night while they both were reading their respective magazine selections.

"Well, you are stretching," Cloud sighed and turned the page.

Sephiroth huffed at Cloud's careless response. "How'd you like zig zags all over your perfect little stomach?"

Cloud blinked at the veiled compliment and smiled, holding his magazine against his chest and looked at Sephiroth. "I didn't want to suggest it, but…you want me to get you something for stretch marks? This magazine is full of ads for like, lotion and stuff that'll help."

Sephiroth groaned and buried his nose in his testosterone-laden magazine. "…Maybe. If you're in the store and you think of it."

Cloud smiled, "Yes sir."

Sephiroth nodded and the subject was closed

But even the nightly application of Neutrogena wasn't going to save him if he got much bigger than he currently was. Surely a woman who was carrying five would have been much larger, simply because her children would have been warm-blooded mammals. But towards the ninth week of pregnancy, Sephiroth was extremely uncomfortable and frankly fed up with it.

While Cloud and Zack took visits and photographs of apartments to show Sephiroth (who wouldn't actually go in person), they discussed the need for a manny. They decided on one thing – the manny would need to come from the Shin-Ra army.

They wanted someone who would both be diligent and strong in helping keep guard while Sephiroth was at work, but also someone who was already inherently loyal to the General and his new family. It would feel less like a stranger.

But what man was going to sacrifice his military career in order to moonlight as a nursery school assistant? They came to a simple conclusion: a different manny for each day of the week. Possibly more or less depending on what the individual man's schedule and preferences were like.

The men would help Cloud out in the mornings giving the babies breakfast and baths, and throughout the early afternoon with lunch, diaper changes and playtime. Sephiroth wanted someone with Cloud from the moment he left until the moment he returned home, but Cloud insisted that in the late afternoon and early evenings, he could handle the five by himself.

In actuality, Cloud wanted a couple hours of privacy a day. Maybe he could coach the babies – or at least some of them – to have naptime then. Then he could have a moment to take a shower, listen to music, fix Sephiroth dinner and maybe just breathe a little bit. It would be Cloud's Zen moment of the day.

Maybe he could gaze out a window and sip exotic teas. Not that he really liked tea, but it created a relaxing image in his mind. And with the hectic anticipation he was constantly feeling, he was already looking forward to it. So he put a small, unassuming ad in the Shin-Ra corporate daily newspaper.

General Sephiroth himself is seeking several upstanding men for personal, top-secret assignment. Each man must be available one day per week, up to eight hours on that given day. Strict background check will be performed. Qualified individuals will be paid for their time, and will also receive private training from the General. Please contact Cloud Strife for further details.

The flood of response was almost overwhelming. When Cloud was at work, he could barely keep up with his actual job in lieu of constantly answering calls. After much thought, Cloud finally compiled a list of one hundred promising candidates and organized a day of interviews in his office.

Each lucky contestant swept into the room with a broad smile, saluting Cloud who saluted back. Cloud took a seat behind the desk. The future manny took a seat in front of him.

And each time, Cloud would smile and say this: "How do you feel about infants?"

Depending on their knee jerk reaction, which ranged from "Infant what?", to surprised laughter, to shivers of disgust – the interview either ended on the spot or continued on. After a long afternoon, Cloud had the files of twenty mannies, each and every one of them still perfectly unaware of what exactly they were in for.

Cloud gave the files to Sephiroth's secretary, who did a speedy background check on each. Only one of them was questionable – a severe reprimand for insubordination, but it was also a man who had three children of his own, and he even proudly produced pictures in his wallet. Cloud liked him, so he brought all twenty files home for Sephiroth to inspect.

"Most of these guys are so…" Sephiroth shook his head. "…manly."

Cloud kissed his cheek in bemusement. "Well we're looking for a manny, Seph."

Sephiroth knew that, and even knew most of the men Cloud had chosen semi-personally. But now they felt like total strangers, and Sephiroth felt odd about hiring them to come into his home and take care of his monstrous offspring. "I didn't expect the selection to be so burly. I thought the mannies would be more like…you."

Cloud fell onto his back on the bed in exhaustion. "There's only one of me, Seph. And you know I'm one of the smallest guys in the army, let alone SOLDIER. You can't honestly expect everyone who looks like a queen to like kids. I'm telling you, these guys are all decent and most of them have kids of their own."

"I just don't know if I like the thought of you spending all day with guys like this," Sephiroth frowned. If they were cute little fags, at least he wouldn't have to worry about Cloud getting overpowered, or worse… falling for one of them.

Cloud moaned loudly. "Oh please. Did you hear when I said most have their own kids? That means they have wives or are straight, silly. You're the only boy who can make babies, remember?"

Sephiroth frowned and continued to look through the files.

Cloud tilted his head at the odd expression, and rubbed his knuckles along Sephiroth's jaw before kissing him. "It's not like I'm going to be in the apartment for the next three years of my life. If that were the case, I wouldn't really need the help. We're going to be going to the park, going to the zoo, the aquarium, playgrounds, and movies. Hell, even grocery shopping is going to take a huge effort with five babies. And what about when they start to walk? If I wanted to do something as simple as go swimming with them in the pool, I definitely would need more eyes than mine watching all of them."

Sephiroth let the file drift down into his lap. The park? The zoo? Swimming?

He felt an odd pang of…jealousy.

Cloud's eyes searched Sephiroth's face, wondering what sort of emotion was playing across it and was unable to pinpoint it exactly. "I mean, you do realize that our children will be going outside… don't you?"

"Of course I realize that," Sephiroth snapped, settling into annoyance. "But why the fuck does the manny have to be so…domestic with them?"

"Seph, I really wish you'd quit your job and be here with me all day with them. But we both know you're not going to do that."

"I know you need the help, I just think that there should be some boundaries."

"Like what?" Cloud sighed distantly, beginning to stir around on the bed to remove his clothes.

"I don't think any manny should be taking you and our spawn to the zoo," Sephiroth said point blank. "That's clearly a family-oriented activity."

Cloud stopped undressing mid-zipper and his mouth fell open. He blinked slowly, letting Sephiroth's meaning sink in and finally understanding what his manny hang-up was stemming from. He turned away to hide his massive smile and kept it out of his voice. "Good idea. We'll only go to the zoo with both daddies."

"I won't be able to take off work for every G-rated movie in creation…" Sephiroth dismissed, having no interest in sitting in a theatre for a cartoon feature with five fussy little brats. "…and I know I won't have to be there every single time you go to the park. But I would like to be there for activities that they might think back on and remember."

Cloud grinned to himself as he pulled on a pair of loose sleep pants. "Childhood memories must include both daddies. You got it."

"I'm not trying to gloss over their childhood…mutant hood…whatever. And I'm not attempting to insert myself into just the highlights. But I'm somewhat looking forward to seeing how they react to certain things."

"Like what?" Cloud asked eagerly as he stripped himself quickly, dropping onto the bed and rolling onto his stomach next to him.

"An ass-view of an elephant take a huge shit," Sephiroth said seriously after some consideration.

Cloud laughed. "Is that your big fatherhood dream?"

Sephiroth threw up his hands helplessly. "I have no idea. But if they do come out normal, I wanna see… I hope they… Oh, I don't know."

"What? Please tell me," Cloud implored.

"I hope they push smaller kids around," Sephiroth admitted.

Cloud giggled. "They'll be a gang of bullies. We'll make sure of that."

"I hope they all have a good sense of humor."

"Kids usually do," Cloud smiled, rolling closer to cuddle. He pulled up his shirt and carefully rested his hand on Sephiroth's tummy. He made sure to do it often as a way of saying hello to them. "I'm jealous. You get to spend all day with them, already. Do you feel them moving, yet?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't think so."

Cloud rubbed his hand over the curve slowly. "…Do you love them, yet?"

Sephiroth moved the rest of the files to the nightstand to get them out of the way. "I think my personal feelings about them are irrelevant at this point. They're on their way whether I love them or not. I'm just trying to make the best of the situation."

Cloud stilled and backed away from Sephiroth in bitter disappointment. "…Whatever."

"What's that supposed to mean? You know as well as I do that this was an accident. If we knew I was capable of this it never would have happened."

"Yeah. I know it. We both know it, but do you have to say it? Can't we just have one moment where… ugh, never mind!" Cloud disengaged from Sephiroth entirely and rolled away from him. "You can't appreciate anything, can you?"

"It should be you then. You'd appreciate it, I'm sure."

Cloud looked sharply over his shoulder, anger brewing on his features and his mouth working silently as fighting words formed in his head. It was a look Sephiroth was far too familiar with, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"Don't fucking start," Sephiroth warned.

Cloud did fucking start, though. "I wish to fucking God it was me. Wanna know why?"

Sephiroth blinked casually, eyes unseeing with false disinterest.

Cloud rolled onto his back angrily, "I've dreamt of it a few times, before any of this even started. I've woken up in actual disappointment because it could never happen for me. I've wanted children all my life. I'd give anything in the world to do what you're doing. You're just upset because you think it makes you less perfect somehow."

"Come off it. I don't think I'm anywhere near perfect and you know it," Sephiroth interjected dispassionately.

Cloud didn't stop talking, though. "You're gorgeous. You're powerful, strong, influential, fucking infallible. Now you worry what people are gonna fucking think of you if they find out. An alien! Pregnant! The shame of it! What you don't get, is that this makes you more perfect! This makes you beyond perfect. I'm so jealous of this I can't even stand it! I could hate you for it, Seph! And all this time I've stood by you while you have done nothing but bitch and moan about your tremendous misfortune, your supreme inconvenience. Everyday I have to listen to you spit in the face of this goddamn blessing."

Sephiroth was done with listening. "I think you're confusing a blessing with a genetic accident, Cloud. Dysfunction and deformity aren't blessings."

He just became more settled into his anger. "We're going to have children. Babies. Yours and mine. No surrogate. No test tubes. Babies that are only ours. Naturally. You're making us a real family, Sephiroth. I see how wonderful that is, why don't you?"

"I was happy being a family with just you. I liked our life, and would never have wanted for anything more."

Cloud just frowned. "That's why it should have been me. Because I'm not as selfish as you are. I really, really do wish I could take your place. I already love them."

When he still didn't say anything in response, Cloud just rolled over onto his side. Sephiroth reached over to turn off their light, and laid down.

The silence was heavy. Cloud could talk for hours on end without stopping for air, but never before had he made such a sharp point. Sephiroth still wasn't used to being scolded by his little lover, and couldn't think of a single word to say in either defense or retaliation.

He was intelligent enough to know when he was being an ass. But the eggs were fucking with his emotions enough to make him regretful of this, whereas his more usual self would have thrown the mouthy blonde out of the bedroom for such a tone and slept guilt free.

He couldn't take back the cold things he often said, and he didn't particularly want to lie to Cloud about how he felt, especially concerning this subject. They might have looked humanoid, but that still didn't mean the eggs were going to behave like humans. The fact was, they weren't.

Sephiroth didn't want Cloud to go to sleep angry with him. He softly approached Cloud from behind to put his arms around him.

The slim body rejected his embrace at first, but after a moment of awkward fumbling to get his arms fully around Cloud, they both settled. It was a bit uncomfortable due to his abdominal largeness, so Sephiroth sighed softly. "This isn't working so well at the moment."

Cloud gave a small, demanding sound. "You roll over, then."

Sephiroth did. Cloud came up behind him and spooned him roughly, before softening into the mattress. "You're a total bastard."

"So are your kids," Sephiroth said with a grin before chuckling, even as Cloud fumed behind him.

"Don't you get anything I said?" Cloud asked quietly after a moment.

"I get that you're gaining happiness from this, some sort of completion. And I think it has something to do with your mother and her desire for grandchildren. Maybe it's cultural, maybe you mentally link happiness with offspring."

"I'm a little more evolved that that," Cloud tsked, but couldn't help but wonder if it was true, at least partially. People from small towns were all about procreation.

"It's just a theory," Sephiroth said softly. "I never met your mother but she seems a little bit like you. Stubborn, pushy and wants nothing more than little brats running around, God knows why."

Cloud couldn't help himself, he giggled. "It just makes me happy to know that you and I made something that's going to last. Our babies are going to have babies, someday. We're gonna keep on going, you see?"

Sephiroth opened his eyes in the dark, but said nothing.

Cloud saw the green light, and sighed a little. "Do you… You don't still think something bad will come of it, do you?"

"Something's been bothering me this entire time," Sephiroth hissed in the dark and suddenly rolled to face Cloud. "Hojo knew everything about me. He cut me open more times than I could count, he's seen every inch of me. Yet in the files in the Shin-Ra mansion, there wasn't one goddamn word about any extra reproductive organs, and it said nothing about me being anything other than male. Isn't that weird?"

Cloud shrugged a shoulder. "It's possible the doobie was overlooked."

"Don't call it that!" Sephiroth rolled his eyes, and then settled back into his point. "If my mother wanted another me, someone else to do what I didn't do… Cloud, don't look at me that way, I'm serious about this. I could have done something horrible that night in Nibelheim."

"Oh, like what? And why does it matter? You're fine now," Cloud dismissed as though a tragedy by Sephiroth's hands was impossible. "Your mother couldn't have done this to you… she's a fish floating in water."

Sephiroth didn't bother correcting Cloud about the fish thing. "I can't relax into this like you have, Cloud. I tried, I promise. I tried hard for you. But even if they look like normal kids, they aren't."

"I know they aren't normal, but that doesn't mean they aren't innocent."

They would be totally innocent. Half of them, anyways. One half was going to be pure innocence; the other might have been completely corrupt for all Sephiroth knew. And he felt something prick his heart at the thought that perhaps his mother didn't tamper with himself to make it possible for him to unnaturally reproduce… perhaps she'd done something to Cloud. Perhaps she'd somehow tainted the person who had prevented him from losing his mind, his mate for life.

Sephiroth's emotions flared. "I've shut off my feelings in an effort to see things your way, Cloud. I just don't. I want insight into this now, before I have them. I need to find out from my mom."

"It's not like you can fly to Nibelheim in your condition," Cloud easily asserted.

"I'll ask Aerith."

"No!" Cloud squawked, holding Sephiroth tightly. "I don't want you going!"

"I'll do exactly what I want to do," Sephiroth reminded him sternly. "And if my mom has plans for our eggs, I want to know about it. I want to be able to watch them, and to protect you if anything happens."

"They're not going to pop out of you toting machine guns!" Cloud raised his voice. "I don't want you risking yourself or them! Stay here until after you've had them and you're better! Then you can go talk to your mom, okay?"

"I'm going."

Cloud took a deep breath and said in the most serious voice he could muster: "I absolutely forbid it."

And yet he fully expected it when he found the apartment empty the following evening. He approached the letter on the table slowly, knowing what it was without having to pick it up. It was short and to the point.

Aerith gave me a go ahead for flight. In fact, she's piloting, which is pretty weird. Try not to worry though. I'll be back home to you in twenty hours. Or… we'll be back home to you in twenty hours. I love you Cloud, and even though I have my reservations I'm sure our eggs love you, too. I hope to bring you some good news.

Cloud had to smile.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth really hated Nibelheim, mostly because it was dirty, ugly, dark and cold. But the main reason he hated the town was because he associated it with the brief, flickering flirtation with a total loss of self.

For a proud person like Sephiroth, the most frightening notion was non-existence. And he felt that beneath the old Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim, he could have truly let go of everything he was and had ever been. Remembering his own thoughts was almost like remembering something someone else had said in passing, like a strange comment filtered through during a conversation in the next room. Nothing he had thought made any sense out of the context of that insanity.

What was he going to do? Oh. He was going to set the town on fire and kill everyone, then keep going and not be stopped. He would keep going until the entire planet was dead, and not just people. Every living thing. He was going to kill Zack. He was going to kill Cloud.

Sephiroth didn't even know Cloud, then. It made his heart ache. He almost lost himself, but he also could have lost Cloud. His love, his everything. He wanted to call him and let him know he was alright, but he still sobbed occasionally from tender thoughts. He felt that if he talked to Cloud right then, he'd fall apart.

He didn't want to do that in front of Aerith.

Despite his stormy emotions, the flight was actually pleasant under her tender piloting skills. When she offered to fly him out, he questioned immediately her history of flying and how the hell she'd acquired that skill. Apparently, some unnamed Turk needed help with certain libido problems, and she traded her discretion for free flight hours. Before she knew it, she had a pilot's license, and the Turk was able to pop a stiffy whenever he wanted to.

After brooding for the better part of the trip, Sephiroth finally implored her to tell him the Turk's name.

"Nope," She grinned. "I promised him I'd never spill the beans."

"I guess I can respect that," Sephiroth said carefully, glancing at her.

"Don't worry. You get that same courtesy," Aerith sat with a friendly pat on Sephiroth's knee.

He crossed his arms over his stomach and stared out the window. "Nobody's going to believe your book, you know."

"They will," Aerith chuckled. "Though maybe not in our lifetimes. But think about it; once your genes spread into the pool, I bet more and more males are going to suddenly have your particular problem. In hundreds of years, I'm going to be the pioneer of male pregnancy research. I'm gonna be famous!"

"In the meantime, you'll be a laughing stock," Sephiroth pointed out.

"If there's one thing studying to become a doctor taught me, it's this," Aerith took a happy breath. "Everyone who gets the chance to make a great discovery has to commit to it, and suffer the burden of knowing they're right, even when everyone else thinks they're crazy."

"Maybe they'll name the male abortions after you. I wish you'd have given me a Gainesborough while I still had the chance."

"Oh, hush," Aerith tsked him as they began to lower over Nibelheim.

Sephiroth closed his eyes as his stomach lurched a little bit. He teased Cloud for his motion sickness, but could see that it was definitely not pleasant. As the helicopter settled on the level patch of dirt that served as a landing field, she began her post flight sequence and shut off the motors, the blades, and the navigation panel. She snuck glances at Sephiroth every so often, noticing his color change upon landing.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, pulling his face towards her and not hesitating to spread his eye wide open with two fingers.

He batted her away. "Just a little nauseous from the landing, I'm fine."

She doubted it was the landing. She'd been studying Sephiroth's history and his previous reactions with Jenova, and knew fully well what she would do if the worst-case scenario were to happen and Sephiroth lost his mind. She had a syringe hidden on her person that would knock him on his ass in five seconds flat. It wouldn't affect the babies, and the worst side effect would be a little disorientation and a good nap. While he snoozed, she'd get him onto a gurney at the reactor, then drag him back into the helicopter and get the hell out of dodge.

But she wanted to see what Jenova would say about this little development as much as Sephiroth did, and quickly exited the helicopter to skip around to Sephiroth's side and help him out. He definitely wasn't the most chivalrous man on Earth, but it felt very strange to accept help from a woman. Especially because he actually needed it.

He'd dressed very casually, a simple band hoodie over jeans with sneakers, and his long hair tucked up into a cap. He didn't want to be recognized or bothered by the locals. He'd hoped to simply appear as a portly teenager with a beer belly. It was both lucky and somewhat unfortunate that he did.

"Feel like taking a stroll?" She grinned and offered her arm.

"I feel like taking a stroll to the diner," Sephiroth sighed. "They have good cherry pie there."

"Oh crap, that does sound good," Aerith agreed, glancing towards town. "Let's go take care of this first. You'll feel less anxious once you talk to her."

Sephiroth turned his nose up. "I'm not anxious."

"My mistake," Aerith smiled, putting an arm around Sephiroth's waist. He hooked an arm around her shoulders and looking like a happy couple, they walked to the reactor. As they strolled, Aerith noticed that Sephiroth's pocket was vibrating silently. "Is that a cell phone in your pocket or are you just – "

"It's a cell phone," Sephiroth interrupted, not letting her finish the obnoxious cliche. "Cloud's blowing it up."

"Why don't you answer? Let him know we landed safely."

"I don't feel like dealing with him right now."

"He loves you … He's probably worried."

"I don't feel like dealing with him," And that was final.

There was a new road that paved the way to the reactor – Hojo was making more frequent visits there, probably in preparation for his next big fuck up. But for their purposes, it made for a nicer walk than stomping through the dirt. The rope bridge that had collapsed had also been cleared away and redone in sturdy wood.

He silently thanked someone for seeing him through the Nibelheim mission. He wasn't sure if God was the right person. He sure as hell knew his mother wasn't responsible for his safety… but someone made sure he made it through the week. He came out alive, and in love.

Maybe Cloud was the person he should thank. Cloud didn't fall off the bridge. He didn't get mauled by any monsters. He didn't take no for an answer in the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion. And he brought drugs.

Sephiroth smiled, although it was brief as they cleared the bridge and arrived at the reactor. It seemed so small from the outside.

Aerith had only visited the reactor as a med student, so she felt almost naughty entering without an official reason. Sephiroth seemed to know right where he was going.

"Hi," He said suddenly.

"…Hi?" She answered, looking up at him. She then realized he wasn't talking to her.

He hesitated outside the room that held what he perceived to be his mother. Of course, he knew by now that his mother wasn't Jenova, but a human named Lucretia. But actually hearing a voice was far more compelling than a simple fact, a face in a picture he'd never talk to or know. Maybe knowing he was wrong about something but continuing to believe in it was a form of insanity all in itself.

He couldn't think about it too much, it made his head spin and his heart hurt. He just wanted to talk to his mother. He wanted to know he was okay. He wanted that.

"Could you leave us alone for a minute?" Sephiroth asked.

Aerith took a breath. "I'll stay back here, and keep quiet. I… can't leave you totally alone. Okay?"

He slowly nodded, understanding.

He stood there in silence after Aerith's last words stopped echoing, and he finally looked at the vault that housed his…mother. She was his mother.

Come in, sweetie.

His feet instantly moved across the sheeted metal floor. He approached her dwelling reverently, but not taking his time to be graceful.

Open up the door.

Sephiroth looked to the small panel, almost unnoticed next to the massive mechanical sculpture. He typed in a simple code, and the door easily slid open in a gust of chilly steam.

Take off that hat before you come in here.

Almost forgotten, Sephiroth pulled the cap off of his head and shook his hair out. He held it behind his back uncertainly, and finally looked up at Jenova. She was still as her hair weaved gracefully through the thick fluid. He always expected her to move, but she never did.

He approached after a moment and touched the glass.

Jenova couldn't move, but her energy reached out to lick at his fingertips like static electricity. It traveled all the way up his arm to his cheek, where it popped before it dissipated.

Sephiroth smiled.

I missed you.

Sephiroth closed his eyes. He didn't want to be pulled down into another web of strange lies. The last time they had spoken it had been hard, and he had been putting off thinking about it or facing it. He knew she didn't have any reason to miss him. He knew he was a failure to her.

Why is there a wall between us, now?

"I can't finish your business."

I know that now. I fixed it.

Sephiroth poked the glass angrily. "So you did this to me, then? To make a new me to destroy the planet. Right?"

The static charge touched his finger and zapped it, making Sephiroth flinch away from the glass. Wrong. I've changed my goals.

Sephiroth felt a pressure of dread fall upon his heart. His fears felt confirmed, and he felt like vomiting. He shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets and leaned against his own arms, trying to steady himself. "…What are your goals, now?"

I've decided that extermination of this planet might be a waste. I've changed my goals to colonization, instead.

Sephiroth's eyebrows rose.

Why look that way? I thought you'd be thrilled.

"So… what are they, then?"

What are what?

Sephiroth's mouth became a line. "The eggs. What the fuck are they?"

Jenova's energy almost sparkled on the glass. She was laughing. They're your children.

"But they're going to colonize…?"

We will colonize very rapidly. In the next thousand years, one out of three will carry our cells. In the next ten thousand years, nine out of ten will be one of us. And once the planet is covered in our kind, we'll use it to fuel our travel to other worlds.

Sephiroth blinked, not knowing what to feel. Was this acceptable? Was this okay? Was it okay to think that this might be acceptable? Was he going crazy again? He leaned harder on his arms as his head swam.

I thought you'd be happy since you came up with the idea. You've been trying to reproduce for years.

Sephiroth wrinkled his nose. "What? I have not."

You've been mating so much with that poor little human boy to no avail. He wasn't able to be fruitful for you. I merely helped you along, pumpkin.

Sephiroth's mouth fell open. "I wasn't trying to knock Cloud up!"

My poor baby. You don't understand what you were doing, then.

Without a single word to say to that, Sephiroth put his hands in his pockets and pouted.

Try to see it. Your children are a part of you, and a part of your mate. They're also a part of me. They'll live, make new, then pass on… but we'll all keep on living. Them, you, me, your human boy. We'll all be a family. We'll all take the universe for our own, we'll drink the energy of everything we touch. Forever. Isn't that wonderful?

Sephiroth's eyes fluttered. He wasn't sure if it was the eggs sitting on his emotions or his mother and her way of convincing him of the oddest things… but that did sound wonderful. Living forever, claiming everything as his and giving the middle finger to life on this planet as it was known… it sounded damn good.

And the best part of all was that Cloud was invited, too.

Jenova felt his relief. She also felt his thoughts and apprehensions as his mental wall came down and he invited her into his psyche.

Your Cloud took you away from me, right when I finally had you. But I forgive him, because he's made you happy. He softened my heart to the humans, as a result. He will live, but the rest are garbage. The rest must go. They'll fertilize the soil of this wasteland of a planet and support our needs until it's time for us to move on.

Sephiroth nodded. Why not? Who cared? As long as he had Cloud, everyone else could suck it.

Their lineage would rule the universe.

…Cloud would never have to know.

That's the best route. I don't think a human would be able to understand our plans. Your wall is down, now Sephiroth. Welcome back.

Sephiroth swallowed and looked down at himself curiously. "If Cloud won't know… that means they're going to be normal?"

They'll each grow, healthy from your body. They'll make more very soon.

Sephiroth smirked. "Even if they're gay. You're a tricky lady."

The answer was obvious with you. I would have told you all about my ideas, but you never come to see me… so it was a surprise for you.

"It was very surprising," Sephiroth muttered. Then he remembered one of the main reasons he wanted to talk to his mother. A gift for Cloud. "…What are they?"

I already explained.

"I mean, what sex are they?"

You'll have four boys, and a girl.

Sephiroth looked down at himself, as if trying to see some sort of evidence of this. There was a woman inside of him. What a strange turn of events.

You should speak to them. They long to hear your voice.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes at her. "Cloud's been talking to them for weeks. I'm sure they're tired of hearing my voice, as well."

Cloud is right. They hear and understand everything he says, and everything you say. There's sadness there as a result.

Sephiroth pursed his lips. He hadn't said anything directly to them. But he had been speaking a lot about them.

He thought back to his own childhood, about how he was raised. He thought about what was said to him when he was little. He was openly referred to as a monster throughout his entire life, until he left for the military. His heart struck a chord of pain to think that he was doing the very same thing to the little people inside of him, even before they entered the light of the world.

If there's anything you want to say to them, they'll hear you.

He thought about what he always wanted to hear when he was a child. What he never heard from anybody until he was already a man and jaded enough to half disbelieve it.

"…I know you're in there," Sephiroth said carefully down at himself. "… and I think I want you, now."

Jenova didn't saying anything.

Sephiroth swallowed and his hands flattened against his stomach inside of his pockets. "I want you."

Suddenly, he felt something strange. Something that almost shocked a gasp from him.

He felt them. But not only that, he could hear them sleeping. He heard their little hearts beating steadily and gently.

Sephiroth's eyes widened when he felt one of them move. He felt the tiny thing shift inside of its' egg, almost nuzzling against him from the inside. He heard another one sigh a little bit, and couldn't help but think that the little sound was restless and somewhat impatient. Another one hiccupped slightly.

Sephiroth listened to the little nuances of his children's movements, and then looked up at Jenova in wonder.

They're speaking to you, now.

Sephiroth smiled. "Whichever one is on my bladder, roll over a little bit."

The little eggs had no reply for that. Figures.

You need your rest. Bring them here to see me periodically. And bring Cloud. Jenova said softly. My cells are in all of you, but it's nice to have everyone together.

Sephiroth touched the glass one more time before he shut his mother into her chamber. He turned around and looked at Aerith, who shamelessly held a tape recorder in her hand.

She quickly shut it off and shoved it into her pocket, and approached cautiously, "How'd it go?"

Sephiroth smirked. "Went good. Four boys and a girl."

Aerith clapped and shook her fists happily. "That's wonderful, Cloud's going to be so excited… can I check a few things?"

She led him to an examination room in the reactor and quickly checked every vital sign, reflex, and measurement. He was the same as when he'd gone in, which was a relief.

"I'm ready to go back," He said. "I feel… a lot calmer about this."

"So they're not little monsters after all?" She asked with a smile.

"No more than I am…" Sephiroth said softly.

Aerith cupped his cheek warmly, and then gasped. "Oh! Cherry pie!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "Oh!"

And so they high tailed it back to town to indulge a little before going gassing up the helicopter, and then flying home.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was the middle of the night when the helicopter landed on the top of the Shin-Ra building. Sephiroth and Aerith were both exhausted, and were also surprised to find two people waiting for them once the blades stopped spinning.

Zack and Cloud both approached the helicopter. Zack was smiling and happy as usual, his stride bouncing with positive energy. Cloud on the other hand, looked livid. Sephiroth opened up his door and didn't get out. He simply held out his arms and hugged Cloud as he rushed at him angrily.

Cloud paused, not expecting it. He snarled and gripped Sephiroth into a rough embrace. "You just had to go, didn't you?"

"Yes," Sephiroth said softly, leaning back slightly to kiss his unprepared lips.

Cloud felt some of his anger and hurt abate with Sephiroth's affectionate tone and loving demeanor. "…Are you alright?"

"You have four boys, Cloud. And a girl."

Cloud had been exhausted with worry the past day. He felt tears of relief and joy form to see Sephiroth safe, and surprisingly calm and benevolent. He had to admit silently to himself that despite his rallying for the eggs from the get go, he was slightly nervous about their origin and intention. At the very least he was concerned that they'd be born deformed or perhaps unable to properly function.

Cloud slipped his arms around Sephiroth's neck, "…So they're ours? They're not going to hurt you or me?"

Sephiroth opened his eyes and stared into the city of Midgar. It wouldn't be a lie. They would not hurt them. All they were going to do was live. They were going to be happy, love one another, and make grandchildren. For this lifetime, for this existence, and for right then… they were going to be just fine.

"They're our kids, Cloud," Sephiroth firmly affirmed with the truth in his heart. "They're going to be healthy, normal, and all ours."

"I love you!" Cloud sniffed as all of his dreams came true at once.

Sephiroth felt that relief too, and hugged Cloud tightly. "I love you, too."

Zack drove them home as they dozed against each other on the backseat. He'd been supporting Cloud the past day since he knew Aerith was fully competent in flying, and since she was actually answering her phone, ensuring their safety. He looked at Sephiroth in the rearview, leaning against the top of Cloud's head and stroking his cheek with his fingertips.

He knew Sephiroth showed love in odd ways, but seeing him openly displaying his intimacy with Cloud was like seeing him for the first time. He knew behind closed doors he was very possessive and nurturing to him, but seeing it with his eyes made his heart swell a little.

He reached out his hand and took Aerith's, who seemed to understand exactly what he was thinking.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cloud was coming home earlier and earlier as his final days of being a full time SOLDIER were coming to a close for the next three years. He spent his evenings with Sephiroth preparing to leave the apartment they'd shared, and move into the flat where they would raise their family.

It was everything Cloud thought it would be. Everywhere he looked he saw things in baby-vision; the outside patio next to the pool would be perfect for playing, the bathroom with the huge tub would fit them all for bath time, the kitchen would easily house five high chairs – the dining room was reserved for adults, and when they were grown enough to eat by themselves. The place was large and the views were gorgeous at seventeen stories up. Also, Cloud finally had a pool to call his own.

Sephiroth and Cloud chose their room. It was a toss up between one with a private bathroom, and one with a gorgeous view. They decided in the end on the one with the bathroom to better facilitate daddy alone time. They planned on keeping all five babies in the room right next door until they grew enough to spread out to the other rooms. In the meantime, they would serve as guest rooms for the droves of visitors that were certain to want to spend time with the babies over the next couple of years. Also, the General could enjoy his gym until his new one at HQ was constructed. Old man Shin-Ra had been so stunned by the sudden leave of absence that he was falling over himself to get his famous silver General back to work.

Not only was Sephiroth getting a private gym, he was also getting a brand spanking new office, which was pretty fucking impressive just for a little bit of sick leave. Genesis and Angeal were beyond jealous, mostly because they knew Sephiroth was unable to get sick and figured since Cloud put it for his own leave, that they were enjoying an extended vacation together. If they only knew! But the point was, they didn't know. It was one shining point of happiness in Sephiroth's current position, and he couldn't wait to go back to work and rub it in their faces. Of course, being knocked up was a high price to pay for a little preferential treatment, but he would take what he could get.

Cloud was dying to spill the news to everyone and anyone, but he kept it inside. He was as proud, excited and happy as any father to be had ever been in the history of the universe. But with a windfall of sudden changes, came the cold shock of fear and anxiety.

The last night in their bed at their empty apartment, Cloud stared up around him at the now empty room where so many wonderful things had happened. They'd made love more times than he could ever count, they'd wrapped presents for each other while the other was away, they'd fought viciously only to be able to make up again, they'd redecorated and had talked to each other in the dark. They'd made babies there.

Sephiroth was the one to insist that they'd move, but Cloud had quickly warmed to the idea. He was in love with the pretty new place they'd be living. He loved his children, tiny little sweethearts that were getting bigger everyday. He knew he was going to love his new life as a father, and a role model, and a caregiver.

But he was going to miss the place he'd lived with Sephiroth. He was going to miss his budding military career. He was going to miss being serious, sweaty and dirty. He was going to miss swinging his sword and catching the proud, appreciative and seductive look in Sephiroth's eyes when they passed each other while on the clock.

It was trading one wonderful life in for a new, equally wonderful life. Equal, but different. He felt that prickly stir of anxious excitement again, harder through his core. He swallowed and turned around to face Sephiroth, finding his green eyes open.

They glowed gently in the dark, looking at him. They warmed when they met his own, which glowed a blue that appeared to be two small skies full of sunshine in the dark room.

As bright as the blue eyes were, they were worried. "Seph…"

"What?" Sephiroth asked tokenly. He knew what was on his lover's mind, he was simply inviting him to speak.

"You alright?" Cloud asked instead of saying what was on his mind.

"Are you?"

"I can't sleep. I'm nervous."

"Close your eyes and count…" Sephiroth whispered, and began stroking a hand slowly through Cloud's hair, smoothing the feathery blonde spikes against his skull.

"How can you sleep?" Cloud asked, yawning despite himself. When Sephiroth wanted him to sleep, his voice and movements were almost hypnotic. "…Everything's just… so fucking crazy."

"It's easy for me to sleep, because I'm exhausted. I'm also content in the knowledge that while everything might be fucking crazy right now, within the next few months we are going to establish a new normal. I look forward to normal, whatever it's going to be."

Cloud's eyes closed as he moved his head against Sephiroth's hand. "…Maybe we should have saved the move for later, after the babies are older… maybe it's too much at once."

Sephiroth shook his head. "This is a new time in our lives. A new place will help with the changes. Psychologically."

Cloud opened his eyes and lifted his hand to let his fingers stroke Sephiroth's hair in return. "… I'll miss thistime in our lives."

"Don't," Sephiroth advised. "We're always going to be here, just you and me without a damn thought in our heads about procreation. In my mind, when I think about coming home to you, I'm going to think about this place. When I think about coming home to you, plus five alien brats, I'm going to think about our new place. Trust me, it'll make it easier."

Cloud smiled. "I trust you."

A smile touched Sephiroth's lips also, and he began to caress Cloud's hair in less of a calming manner, and more of a seductive one. His fingers tightened around a handful of blonde and pulled him closer.

They made love in that room one more time. Sephiroth pushed Cloud's slim legs up and back, and the empty space that once separated their flat, toned bodies was filled with the mutants… the kids... Sephiroth didn't think about them, he only marveled at how Cloud wrapped his legs around his waist and held him there, and how perfect the fit was. That void between two hard sheets of muscle was now something that was made of both of them.

That fact alone made it tolerable.

Better than tolerable. It made Sephiroth think about loving them.

But he couldn't, just yet. Instead, he focused on loving Cloud.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The move was done in a flash.

Zack ordered a squad of grunts to do the heavy lifting. He borrowed a few tanks to carry it across town. He even had the army police escort the items to the new place. Between collecting the boxes and furniture, driving it to the new residence, and placing everything neatly in the proper room, the entire move from start to finish took less than an hour.

This all occurred while Cloud and the General were at HQ for an appointment with Aerith. Zack called Cloud to let them know the task was complete, and both he and Sephiroth were extremely impressed with the finesse of the operation. Clearly having Zack Fair organize a move was the only way to go.

While the burden of that was off of their minds, Aerith performed their latest ultrasound. The eggs had grown enough that only two were visible on the screen, both little boys were curled sleepily. One sucked on his thumb peacefully. The other was sucking on his own tail, both hands wrapped around it and kneading softly.

"Sephiroth!…" Cloud cooed, unable to handle it. He grinned and hugged Sephiroth's arm, burying his face against the hard muscle in the attempt to smother his adoration. The sheer cuteness that occurred daily inside his life partner threatened to make him explode.

Aerith grinned, but tried to remain composed. "They're all probably aware of their tales as a limb, then. I was wondering about that… goodness, they're growing fast. If it were a normal pregnancy, I'd say that we could induce labor."

"When?" Sephiroth hungrily snapped.

Aerith laughed a little behind her hand. "Probably another week. But we can't do that with you though, we need to let it happen naturally to make sure they're fully developed. We can't be sure how long they'll need your internal heat."

Sephiroth slumped moodily. "They're eggs. Can't I shit them out and we incubate them or something?"

"Seph, gross," Cloud tsked.

"Shut up," Sephiroth frowned, brushing his embrace away. "I want this over, already. I'm fucking… huge."

Aerith just shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. I'm won't risk those babies for anything. You'll cook them for a full nine months if you have to."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes into a scowl. "You said I had six weeks with their growth rate. And that was seven weeks ago! You telling me I might need to fucking sit on them for longer? No way!"

Aerith crossed her arms and smiled. "Why don't you get a second opinion? There are hundreds of OB/GYNs in this city. Make sure to give me their number so I can fax your pregnancy records over to them right away. I'm sure they'd want their findings to be included in my book, as well."

Sephiroth's eyes widened, then he snarled and crossed his arms over his stomach in defeat. Cloud threw Aerith a broad grin. She'd learned how to handle the General well in their time together.

When Cloud was driving home, he actually drove right past home on the way to their old home. And it took Sephiroth longer than he would have liked to notice and tell him to turn around and head to the new place.

It was their place, now.

They entered and locked the door behind them. Their things were in it, but they both felt a little small in the massive, sprawling apartment. The old place wasn't tiny, but was far more enclosed and intimate.

Here, it was all daylight and windows, open areas and high views. They'd immediately agreed that they adored it. There was nothing it lacked… except for the feeling that it was actually home. Cloud went to one window overlooking the outside area where the pool was, gazing out as a distant, almost melancholy look settled on his face.

Sephiroth nudged his arm. "I'm hot. Let's go skinny dipping."

And so they stripped off their clothes and jumped in. Why not? It was theirs!

They splashed around like little children, dunking each other's heads under and chasing one another around in the water. Sephiroth wouldn't dream of being treated too delicately, and tormented Cloud until he attacked without reserve. They played until the sky grew dark and Sephiroth was too hungry to continue. So he gathered Cloud up in his arms and carried him inside wet and dripping. They air dried and ordered takeout, then ate on their old couch surrounded by unpacked boxes while making plans and enjoying the newness of it all.

They made their bed and slipped into it. Cloud curled against Sephiroth's side, kissing him anywhere his lips landed. "You were right about this. You weren't right about everything, but you were right about this."

Sephiroth smiled in satisfaction. He didn't mind being wrong, just once.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth had never been attached to his fortune, but had never really indulged too much in spending it. He never felt like a wealthy man. He never felt like the money was his. It was blood money. It was Shin-Ra's money. His true value lied only in his strength and his position.

Cloud didn't mind spending it, though. He didn't mind spending it at all.

The baby room began to fill with things that were blue, soft green, and covered in chibi SOLDIERs and dinosaurs and puppies. He also bought things for their little girl, tiny dresses and onesies covered in ladybugs and bunnies. There were blankets, there were bottles, and there were soft toys, strollers that fit up to three babies each, pacifiers, diapers, hats, and clothes, clothes, clothes!

But Cloud was curious as to what to feed the babies when they arrived. He wanted to stock up on baby formula, and there were so many different types. Some for preemie babies, some for healthy ones, some for overweight babies, some for lactose intolerant babies, and some for little angels with sensitive digestion.

They didn't exactly have a formula for cold-blooded babies.

He came home with his daily armload of baby items and found Sephiroth without a shirt, snoozing peacefully on the couch. Cloud approached him quietly, listening intently to his breathing to be certain he wasn't sneaking too loudly.

Once he was next to Sephiroth, he took a good look at his chest. It was always muscular, toned, and rounded just so. While his stomach was obviously pregnant, his chest wasn't gaining any roundness. No milk.

Cloud reached out gently and cupped one of Sephiroth's pecs, feeling for any sort of squishiness or fat building up. He felt the nipple harden under his palm, and couldn't help himself. He ran his thumb over it.

Sephiroth snorted in his sleep and shot awake, his eyes zeroing in on Cloud, then on Cloud's hand still squeezing his chest. "…What the hell are you doing?"

"…Molesting you in your sleep," Cloud answered immediately.

Sephiroth narrowed one eye suspiciously. "You were checking me for tits!"

"…No, I was just molesting you in your sleep," Cloud repeated, his hand slowly retracting from the non-existent man boob.

Sephiroth smiled coldly. "I'm not growing tits."

"I don't know what kind of formula to get for the babies," Cloud admitted.

"Get it somewhere else!" Sephiroth growled, and shoved Cloud away.

Cloud laughed. "I'm not trying to milk you, just… seeing if you had any helpful features, that's all."

Sephiroth rolled away from Cloud, covered himself with a pillow from the couch. "We'll ask Aerith at my appointment tomorrow. Goddamn it if these kids don't hurry up and get the fuck out of me, I'm gonna start chugging laxatives."

"I'll remind you of how eager you are to give birth when it's actually happening," Cloud smirked and tittered into the kitchen to make dinner before Sephiroth could throw something at him.

He could throw his voice easily, though. "I swear to you Cloud Strife! I will not be a happier man than when these brats make their way out!"

"Never happier?" Cloud called with a grin.

"Never fucking happier!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

That night, Sephiroth sat straight up in bed.

He looked up at the ceiling, all ten fingers digging into the sheets beneath him.

He swallowed the shout that rose in his throat, and only a stifled, strained noise escaped him. He breathed in a rush of air, and expelled it.

He looked over at Cloud, wondering what to do. Wake him? Let him sleep? Go to the bathroom? Try to take a shit? Call Aerith? Eat something?

He swallowed again as another fierce storm of pain shot through his body. It was worse than being hit by a bolt materia. It was worse than being sliced open with a knife. It was worse than heartbreak, worse than torture, even worse than having his eyebrows plucked by Cloud.

It was pain unlike anything else. Sephiroth was terrified.

The fear multiplied when the pain eased away. It eased away almost to nothing, but loomed very nearby. As soon as he accepted his own hysterical fear, he heard himself whisper, "Cloud. Cloud. Cloud!"

By the third call of his name, Cloud came awake. "Seph? What?"

Sephiroth opened his mouth, then closed it. His breath came out in short, terrified spurts. His eyes were wide in the dark.

Cloud didn't have to make him say it. He shot up to his feet, and hastily began to get dressed.

"I'm gonna call Aerith, she's gonna meet us at the lab. We've already got a red alert plan in place to get everyone out of the way so we'll have access to the executive entrance. I've got shit packed, I've got the keys," Cloud snatched them from the nightstand and shoved them in his pocket while still pulling up his pants. "I'm going to help you downstairs, we're going to drive there. Then I'll call Aerith, and she'll meet us there. I already said that. Everything's going to be alright!"

Sephiroth allowed him to babble, his pain momentarily subsided with his entertainment at watching Cloud trip all over himself. But with utmost grace and care, he knelt in front of Sephiroth on the bed, his frantic fluttering about the room finally come to a halt.

"I just love you to pieces," He said, his small hands cupping Sephiroth's face.

"I love you, too," Sephiroth couldn't help but return.

They smiled at each other, when suddenly Sephiroth's eyes filled with agony and clenched shut. Cloud gasped a little and squeezed his shoulders. "Seph!"

"Ready to fucking go?" Sephiroth asked tensely. There was one thing that spurred him despite the pain. Not the babies' arrival. Not Cloud. Not even the thought of finally inhabiting his body alone.

One thing and one thing only was his light at the end of this tunnel.

Aerith had drugs for him. Good ones.

A/N

1 – There's something really important about this story that I think a lot of you people might have glossed over, or missed somehow. I guess it's my fault, perhaps if I was a more skilled writer I could have made it a little less abstract and a little more literal. So it's my job at this point to let you know what might not be completely obvious – MPREG!!!!!!


	8. 80 Days

Warning : Boys birthin' babies.

The red alert plan was in full swing by the time they arrived at Shin-Ra Headquarters.

Zack got the idea from an old fashioned movie about a talking dragon and a knight. The two became friends and struck a deal to make money by having the knight heroically "slay" the dangerous dragon over and over again in different villages. The dragon faked a death every time, and the knight became rich and famous.

Wally wasn't exactly a dragon though, he was a summon... in a manner of speaking.

Zack found him in Gongaga when he was a Sergeant and thought that the materia was a dud. Hundreds of strange types of summons and summon materia could be found all over the world. Some were made by hapless widows trying to summon their dead lovers from beyond the grave, others were created by people trying to inject their own souls into the materia so they could live forever. And sometimes people got creative and attempted to make up a God all for themselves.

Usually casting them resulted in a little bit of bad weather and perhaps a headache, but they were fun to keep around for posterity.

Then one day upon a bout of Zack's frequent boredom, he got drunk and decided to level the dud summon materia up and see what happened. In a few hours, the orb's power had grown exponentially, which wasn't something that happened with fakes. Before Zack knew it, he had a summonable god in the palm of his hand. Not just something stupid made by man, but a brand spanking new God!

Turns out, Wally was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Zack was the first to ever summon him in a hailstorm of dirt and lava, and he burst from a cluster of molten rocks.

But he was only about three feet tall.

After the fanfare dispersed, Wally waddled towards Zack in excitement and fell right onto his little sharp-toothed face. Although the baby God was powerful, he possessed very little grace. Zack passed the materia around between the ranks, and Wally soon became the mascot of the Shin-Ra army. Everyone from Turks to SOLDIERs to grunts wanted a chance to equip him and play with him, level him up or just frighten new recruits.

Wally quickly got bigger, and became a six story high, ferocious T-Rex… who loved to have his belly scratched and give dinosaur kisses. But once he began to blossom into his true power, the damn labs confiscated him. And that was the last anyone saw of big, dumb, loveable Wally.

That is, until Aerith stole him back.

Wally had already been briefed on what he had to do. He was going to be summoned, and he was going to take out the East side of the Shin-Ra building in a fit of Godillza-esque rage. Zack was going to lead the troops in subduing him with the help of Shiva, who was also in on the plan.

Shiva, a hundred SOLDIERs, a raging fire, and a young Tyrannosaurus Rex on a furious rampage... that might have been enough to distract the building from the sight of the very pregnant General Sephiroth in a lot of pain and with very little capacity for stealth.

When Cloud arrived, he drove right past the epic, destructive duel between ice and fire to the secure entrance of the building, which was deserted except for Aerith and a wheelchair. She came up to Sephiroth's door and he dropped down onto it with as much poise as he could muster.

Once he was seated he was marvelously calm, and almost seemed bored as Aerith wheeled him into the labs. "How long is this going to take?"

"Not long, hopefully," Aerith told him, hurrying with Cloud on her heels. "Have you two been timing the contractions like I told you to?"

"About four minutes apart," Cloud supplied as he skittered behind them through the empty lab. The entire staff had vacated to watch the violent scene outside, Hojo and his team leading the way to retrieve the dinosaur back into captivity.

"Did his water break, yet?" Aerith murmured, speaking in hushed tones just in case there was someone still in the lab.

"I don't think so," Cloud frowned. "Does he have water?"

"Who knows?" Aerith shrugged.

They quickly made their way to a very remote and secure location in the lab. Even though Aerith didn't have the authority, she sealed off the entire hallway with a secure passcode. Only Zack knew the code, in case there was some sort of meltdown and he was needed to rescue them all from chest popping aliens.

Of course, this was only a precaution at Sephiroth's insistence. She only hoped that Hojo or another high-level lab director didn't try to come down that way and be denied access, therefore arousing questions and suspicion.

Sephiroth's delivery room was at the end of the hall. It was large and bright, and Aerith had prepared everything they would need for a safe delivery, plus some extra equipment she thought might have been useful. They had everything from incubators to oxygen tents, supplies to help them for healthy babies or demonic ones.

She even had put on gentle music. The key was to keep the new fathers as calm as possible, and classical music was one of the best ways of –

"Turn that stupid fucking noise off," Sephiroth hissed immediately.

So much for that.

After switching off the offensive Mozart, she and Cloud helped Sephiroth up onto the bed. When he was settled, he held out his wrist to Aerith. By habit, she reached out and checked his pulse.

His eyes narrowed. "Drug me."

"Oh. I will," she promised, petting his hand. "But not just yet."

His extraordinarily calm demeanor began to crack slightly. "…I want it now, though."

She became uneasy. "Sephiroth, I can't give it to you, yet. We need to know some things first…how far along you are, if you're dilated yet, and if you're going to be able to push if you're drugged. I don't want to make this any harder on you than it has to be."

Cloud sat next to him on the bed, putting his arms around Sephiroth's shoulders. "As soon as they're on their way, you'll be able to relax. Okay?"

Sephiroth's breathing sped up a little bit. "Don't just stand there, then. Do what you need to do."

Aerith smiled and began to dress in a surgical gown and gloves. She pulled back her hair and tucked it under a white cap. Cloud did the same, although his hair refused to be trapped beneath the hat, so he threw it across the room in frustration.

While Aerith hooked Sephiroth up to numerous monitoring devices, Cloud helped him disrobe and slip into a more comfortable version of a hospital gown.

It was far from comfortable for Sephiroth, however. He felt absolutely naked, and nearly growled when Aerith approached him from the foot of the bed with stirrups of all things.

"I'm really not going to put my legs on that," he gritted out coolly despite a brand new contraction on its way.

Cloud waved at Aerith, "If he doesn't want them, he doesn't want them. But Seph, you still need to open up so Aerith can look."

Humiliation flared on Sephiroth's face when he realized that the fresh faced, green eyed, pink-lipped bane of his existence was going to be staring up his asshole. The girl smiled in an effort to comfort him. "Seph, it's okay. It's just me."

"This is far from okay…" he disagreed as he uneasily moved his feet apart on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling to avoid this reality as much as possible, not wanting to look down and see what would surely be the most disturbing sight ever. To his very minor relief, Aerith's hands were small and touched gently.

While she inspected him, Sephiroth closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek. The pain was coming back like the icy breath of death, Aerith's fingers were up his ass, and to add to the horror of it all, one of the monitors began to beep rapidly with the increasing intensity of his pain.

"Sephiroth, you're about to contract," Aerith announced, as though he didn't already fucking know it.

He would have said something smart, but the pain swept his words away. This was easily the worst pain Sephiroth had ever felt, utterly uncontrollably and indescribably intense. It stabbed at him from the inside as though each egg was wielding a hot knife. He closed his eyes and kept his mouth shut, trying not to alarm Cloud who was already a stone's throw away from becoming hysterical.

When he felt it begin to fade back once again, he let out a breath of air and opened his eyes. He realized he was pressing his face against Cloud's neck, and pulled away.

Cloud gazed intently from a kissable distance. "…Are you alright?"

Sephiroth didn't have the heart to be upset with such a sweet face, even if it was his stupid cock that got them into this mess in the first place. He leaned forward slightly and kissed Cloud's lips briefly. "I'll be fine… once I'm drugged. Hello, down there? Will you drug me now?"

Aerith finally came up from between his legs, taking her gloves off to retrieve fresh ones. "Well, we have an issue."

"If you don't get me drugs, I'm sending Cloud to the barracks to buy some for me," Sephiroth grumbled.

Cloud giggled behind his hand. That was supposed to be a secret between the two of them.

Aerith calmly pulled new gloves on. "That contraction lasted almost a full minute. This is progressing incredibly fast, but your cervix isn't dilating."

"Shit. Why not?" he groaned, wincing.

"Because you don't have one," Aerith said matter-of-factly. She took the blanket off of him and took his thin hips in her hands, inspecting his body from the outside. Cloud stayed where he was, but looked on nervously.

Sephiroth shifted. "Well, what does that mean?"

"It means that this isn't going to be easy. But we can get through it. It sometimes happens to women – "

"What do women have to do with it?!" Sephiroth growled, then let out a short breath of pain.

"This isn't the time to worry about verbiage Sephiroth. Sometimes pregnant people's bodies don't dilate the way they should...in your case, you can't."

Cloud's voice shook. "But Aerith, he's got a completely different setup from a wom… I mean, pregnant person. I mean… is this gonna…?"

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" Sephiroth suddenly roared, causing both of them to jump. Then he took a deep breath. "Look. Do what you need to do, but drug me, Aerith. Cut me open, tear out my plumbing, whatever. I really… don't… care at this point. I want to… not feel what I'm feeling right now."

She rubbed her forehead, "Okay. If I'm gonna do a cesarean on you, I'm… I have no idea where to cut… where to begin…"

"Figure it out!" Cloud crowed. "You're the doctor here!"

"Cloud, you're not helping anything!" she hissed, then rubbed Sephiroth's calves as she spoke gently to him. "This is new for all of us, but we're going to get through it. The best thing that we can rely on here is you, Seph. Your natural instincts are vital right now."

"Drug me. That's my instinct," he said blandly.

"That's what we'll do," Aerith nodded. With a little help from Cloud, Sephiroth sat up and waited impatiently while Aerith cleaned an area on his lower back and inserted his epidural. "This should start to feel a lot better immediately."

The pain machine began its crescendo of horror, and Sephiroth gritted out breathlessly, "How long will the drugs take?"

"You should already be feeling it," Aerith frowned.

"I'm not," Sephiroth looked alarmed, and gripped the sheets throughout the contraction. "I still feel like shit."

Aerith swore a blue streak in her mind, but did her very best at maintaining a calm demeanor. The epidural tube was attached to a reservoir of intense pain medication, and it should have been giving Sephiroth constant relief. She checked that it was inserted correctly, and that the medicine was moving through the tube.

The contraction finally passed and eased its way back into the depths of his body, ready to strike again at any moment. Sephiroth growled. "Get me better shit."

"Seph, this is morphine. Are you sure you're not feeling at all better?" she asked again, double-checking the entire setup.

He made a face. "Maybe I went from an eleven on the excruciating pain scale to a nine point five. I'd love to hover around a three though, if you can manage it Dr. Gainesborough."

Aerith decided to turn the other cheek. "So you are feeling a small relief, right?"

"A… minute amount," Sephiroth gritted, and the machine monitoring his contractions beeped again.

"Can't you give him more?" Cloud prodded.

After a moment of hesitation she nodded, and upped the dosage to the highest amount she was comfortable giving considering there were five children still inside Sephiroth's body. She watched with empathy as Sephiroth suffered another fierce wave of contracting pain. On the small screen, she noted that the contractions were causing the eggs to almost line up, preparing a queue to exit.

The entire situation threatened to break Aerith's ability to deal with crazy bullshit. But just almost – she was dating Zack after all. And of course, she was a Cetra and all that jazz. A pregnant dude was no big deal.

With this in mind, she encouraged Sephiroth to relax and breath during the worst of the contraction, and to her surprise he took her advice without any smartassery. Cloud paced around the bed, trying his best to help.

It was roughly three minutes before the next one, and the one after. Then they began to come closer together by about half a minute. Both she and Cloud were glad at least that part of this delivery was predictable. It must have been absolutely terrible, because the pain was becoming so intense that the waves left Sephiroth trembling.

Cloud tried to be supportive, "Okay, it's over for now. It's not so bad in hindsight, right?"

"I'm going to murder you in cold blood," Sephiroth growled. "When the fuck is this gonna be over… oh my God."

"What?" both Aerith and Cloud chirped.

Sephiroth brought his knees together and looked away. "…I'm sorry."

Aerith eased Sephiroth's knees back apart and found a small smattering of fluids beneath him. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, and was glad she'd packed towels heavy on the bed beneath him. She lifted the soiled ones and rolled them up. "You mind if I keep this for research, Seph?"

"My crap? Yeah, knock yourself out."

She laughed, "It wasn't crap. Your water just broke."

His eyes lit up, but his voice remained unimpressed, "So it'll be over soon?"

"I hope so," she smiled.

Cloud kissed Sephiroth's cheek. "You're almost there. I know it."

"Usually after the water breaks, it's only a few more hours!" Aerith nearly giggled. At least the breaking water gave her some sort of frame of reference for this. "Do you feel any changes, Seph?"

Sephiroth didn't answer. Aerith turned around to see him looking like a pale mannequin on the bed. He also wasn't blinking or moving, and was barely even breathing.

Cloud touched his hand, "…Seph?"

She hurried over and began to check his stats. "What is it, Seph? What are you feeling?"

"Um," he attempted, his throat bobbing as he swallowed heavily. "I think I…"

Cloud shrieked loudly as the bed between Sephiroth's legs began to slowly blot with blood. "Seph!"

Aerith yanked his arm and pulled him close to whisper against his ear, "You're not allowed to shout like that again. Prepare to see some blood, if you can't handle it I'm sending you out. This is your only warning, okay?"

Cloud nodded just as the contraction machine began to beep rapidly. Sephiroth still wasn't reacting though, and was barely wincing. Aerith pulled his legs apart and began to wipe around, attempting to keep him as clean as possible. "Sephiroth, talk to me. Tell me what's happening, okay?"

"Dunno," he mumbled, then took a breath. "Should I… should I…?"

Aerith and Cloud looked at each other, before she answered enthusiastically, "Should you what? Push?"

He didn't like the sound of pushing, but he tried it and immediately regretted it. A staggered gasp left him. "Oh shit. I really don't wanna do that."

The machine was going crazy. Aerith looked all of Sephiroth's stats over, and decided that they were completely useless. She checked the rough ultrasound, and the eggs were most definitely on the move. "I think you need to try pushing again, Seph."

"I really don't want to," he repeated quickly, his knees coming together as his eyebrows knitted with rebellion.

"Please?" Cloud asked, keeping his hysteria at bay. "This will only take longer if you don't."

Aerith pulled on one of his locked knees. "C'mon Seph, we've practiced this, remember? Relax your lower body and push!"

"Think... of…" Sephiroth took a deep breath. "A different…word…"

Cloud roughly pulled Sephiroth's knees apart, "Sephiroth, stop being a crybaby bitch!"

Sephiroth growled, "I'd love to see you like this!"

"Well, tough shit! Let's get this show on the road!" Cloud ordered.

"You little motherfucker!" he roared, but Aerith could see his stomach muscles contract in an effort to let go of the matter inside of him. This definitely wasn't the relaxation and Lamaze techniques they'd practiced, but it seemed to be working out.

"I'm a daddyfucker, thank you very much," Cloud smiled, hunkering down when Sephiroth seemed prepared to lunge forward and kill him.

But instead Sephiroth propped up on his elbows and gave it all he had – for approximately five seconds. Then he collapsed back in defeat. "This sucks! This sucks!"

Cloud gripped both of Sephiroth's knees. "You have to do this! Once you do it, it'll be over!"

"I can't…" Sephiroth muttered miserably, his voice scratchy with pain.

"Yes you can!" Cloud wailed. "Gwen Stefani did this!"

Sephiroth came out from behind his hands reluctantly. "I could easily kill that skinny, pale bitch."

Cloud nodded enthusiastically. "In half a second!"

Aerith stayed back and let the two of them psyche each other up in their own way, staying silent and ready for anything. Cloud watched anxiously as Sephiroth's throat tightened into a series of stuttered shouts. His hands gripped the sheets, pulling up the sheet from the mattress and his knuckles going white.

Aerith's heart was racing. "Sephiroth, you're doing so good!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Sephiroth growled from above.

Cloud was nearly bursting from within himself, and Aerith was convinced he was going to be the kind of father to pass out. But he didn't, he reached forward and helped in the only way he could think to. He used his fingers to stretch the tightest part of Sephiroth's body out.

"Careful Cloud," Aerith warned, touching Cloud's arm. "We don't want him to tear."

Cloud leveled her a look. "I'm nearly a professional at this area of the male body. Seph isn't going to tear. But I'm guessing if this helps something going in, it stands to reason it'll help something coming out."

"I hate you!" Sephiroth declared.

"Well, I love you," Cloud answered, continuing to gently work his body.

Sephiroth mumbled what sounded like a return declaration of love, but it was cut short by a gritty growl.

Aerith and Cloud could barely stand hearing Sephiroth's normally smooth, controlled voice in so much obvious pain, but could do nothing about it. Aerith was powerless even in her effort to ease that pain with medication. She was tempted to up the dosage yet again, but half of the vial of liquid was already gone from the IV, and it seemed to be useless.

Time felt too slow. Sephiroth was a wreck on the bed, and most of the towels beneath him were soaking through to the mattress almost as quickly as they were being changed. Aerith busied herself with changing out the towels, attempting to keep Sephiroth clean and comfortable, and to make sure Cloud wasn't going to pass out.

He had managed to work four fingers inside of Sephiroth, and suddenly pulled his hand away as if it had touched something hot. He gawked at Aerith for a moment, and they both watched in shock as something pushed against Sephiroth's opening from the inside. The tip of a smooth, pearly blue ellipse peeked out.

Cloud touched it with his gloved fingertips. "Holy shit, Sephiroth! Don't stop!"

"Shut up!" Sephiroth roared petulantly and his entire body seemed to quake as he pushed hard enough to lift his hips off the bed.

A huge push from Sephiroth sent the first egg squeezing nearly halfway out, but it seemed stuck at its widest point. Aerith grasped Sephiroth's knee. "Ease up Seph, stop pushing for a second!"

Sephiroth let out a ragged, masculine scream of anguish, "Fuuuck!"

"Breathe," Aerith told him calmly.

Cloud chirped in agreement, "Breathe, please!"

Sephiroth obeyed, but it took all of his willpower and might not to scream again. While he breathed, his entire body shook, and finally widest part of the egg slowly and naturally squeezed past the threshold.

"Alright, Seph, push!" Aerith nodded, patting his knee in encouragement.

He was only too glad. As the egg came into existence, he felt such a fierce relief that he couldn't contain another throaty shout. Cloud screamed too, at a decided more frantic octave. Aerith even got caught up and her sparkling soprano joined in and the room was filled with a fully assembled chorus of pain, wonder and horror.

Then, it was out.

Cloud caught it in his hands before it slid down onto the bed. His gloves were covered in blood and various debris from the inside of Sephiroth's body, but the little thing in his hands was absolutely the most breathtaking, beautiful, perfect thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Oh my God," Cloud whispered, his voice strained from screaming. "Seph…do you want to hold it…?"

"Smash the little fucker," Sephiroth growled from above, falling back onto the bed as his body strained with the feeling of another egg readying itself inside. He shuddered and gripped the headboard, clamping his eyes and utterly unconcerned with whatever had so rudely exited his body.

Aerith had a hot towel at the ready and took the egg from Cloud's hands. His blue eyes were glued to it, and he immediately tried to follow Aerith when she moved away with it. "Cloud, I've got it. You help Seph get ready for the next one."

Cloud blinked slowly, and nodded when his mind caught up with the situation. They had to do that four more times.

Four more times? Tears slipped from Cloud's eyes. "…Oh my God."

Aerith didn't have time to console either father, and quickly took the little egg to the receiving area. She dipped it in hot water, clearing the debris off of the smooth surface, and then packed it away snugly in a little nest of heating pads in the incubator, set to Sephiroth's inner body temperature. She then attached a sucker pad and listened for any sign of life from inside. She distinctly heard a tiny heartbeat, and was satisfied enough to leave it in the nest for the time being.

Before she closed the warm little environment, she took a sharpie and carefully wrote the number one on the surface of the egg. She then turned back to see Sephiroth looking pale, and Cloud staring between his legs in disbelief, murmuring encouraging words while waiting for the next egg.

Aerith took off her soiled gloves and began to check Sephiroth's vitals. He looked up at her, his green gaze soft and imploring. She leaned down to kiss his forehead, unable to do anything more – she didn't dare to risk holding his hand.

"…Can we try better drugs?" Sephiroth asked her on a breath of air.

Her heart broke to leave him in such pain, but she shook her head. She expected wrath, but he only held her soft gaze and nodded.

She touched his cheek before she rejoined Cloud down at the foot of the bed, and there was a similar tremor through Sephiroth's frame as before. He shuddered and groaned almost angrily. "How many are coming out again?"

"Four more," Cloud made the mistake of answering. Sephiroth nearly revolted against his own body, and twisted pitifully on the bed.

"Fuck! Goddamnit! Shit!" He went through the entire dictionary of curse words one by one, each time giving a tiny push until a pearly blue egg pushed from the inside.

Tears streaked down Cloud's face in empathetic misery with his beloved. "Seph, it's almost here. Just a little more, okay?"

Sephiroth let out a shaky breath, and pushed half-heartedly. Cloud rubbed his thigh. "Give it some more, Seph. You can do it."

"No I can't!" Sephiroth declared, and covered his face with his elbow.

Cloud implored Aerith with exhausted blue eyes. She touched Sephiroth's thigh. "…Know who else had a baby? Reese Witherspoon!"

"Who the fuck is that!?" Sephiroth roared miserably from behind his arm.

"Angelina Jolie!" Cloud recovered quickly. "The bitch had a million of them!"

Sephiroth seemed somehow comforted by this and gripped the sheets, giving a gut wrenching push. Like before, Aerith urged him to let the egg slip free naturally. He gave it one more push and the little thing slid out of his body along with another small pool of blood. Cloud held the weight of it in his hands for a moment before passing it along to Aerith.

This time, there was absolutely no respite, and the third egg impatiently followed. The tip was already out before Aerith even returned from securing the second egg. Sephiroth began to openly sob. "Cloud!"

Cloud kissed his knees and gazed up at him. "Seph, you're halfway done. It's gotta be getting easier, right?"

Sephiroth sent a feral snarl his way. "No! It isn't, actually!"

"Do it anyway!" Cloud shouted at him.

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!"

Another deep groan from Sephiroth broke into a pained shout, and Aerith hurried back to watch yet another egg slowly clear the hurdle of Sephiroth's body.

As the egg slid free, Sephiroth began a tirade of threats onto Cloud, "I'm gonna shove my fist straight up your little ass, do you hear me?"

"I'll let you!" Cloud was glowing as he watched Aerith clean off their latest arrival and add it to the snuggly nest. "After this we'll get a bottle of that white stuff you like and you can do whatever you want to me!"

Sephiroth laid back against the bed almost in a mockery of relaxation. The fourth egg seemed to be taking its time, and Cloud unsnapped his gloves and went to his exhausted lover. Aerith immediately prepared a cool towel and gave it to Cloud, letting him lay it on Sephiroth's forehead while she went back to guard the foot of the bed.

"You're almost done," Cloud said to him, dabbing it onto his flushed face.

"Almost?" Sephiroth's eyes seemed to refuse to focus. "There are more?"

Cloud swallowed and laid the cloth on Sephiroth's forehead, and kissed his cheek. Sephiroth was too focused on keeping pain at bay to reciprocate, so Cloud returned to the foot of the bed where Aerith was cleaning off the insides of his thighs. There would be more mess to come, but if there was a comfort she was able to give, she'd give it.

She caught Cloud's eyes and smiled reassuringly. "He's gonna be okay, Cloud."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Sephiroth stated confidently, before another groan of pain slipped out. "I'm fine. I just… is there any way I could maybe…"

Aerith rubbed his leg. "What?"

Sephiroth sighed shakily. "Any possibility of postponing the rest until later? Like tomorrow? Or maybe a couple days from now?"

Aerith snapped on fresh gloves and handed the box to Cloud. "Bad idea. If we leave them in there for longer, they'll only get bigger, right?"

Sephiroth acknowledged her attempt at a joke with a husky sigh. "God."

"Only two more," Cloud murmured, his hands reached up past Sephiroth's penis to rub his significantly flatter stomach. Aerith looked at the small token of affection and smiled, bemused with herself as her eyes swam with tears. She'd delivered babies before, but this was completely beyond her experience of comprehension. Nothing in her short medical history or her time in med school could have prepared her for this.

She put an arm around Cloud's shoulders. The small man was trembling, and leaned on her gratefully. Sephiroth was beyond being comforted, and had both arms crossed over his head.

The General whimpered slightly and it stretched into another miserable groan. "Okay. Okay."

"Okay," Cloud answered, leaning forward to cover his lover's knees in kisses.

Sephiroth and Cloud continued their chant until another wave of fierce contractions hit. Sephiroth's fair face was blood red at this point, and he took the towel off of his brow and hurled it at Aerith. "Bitch!"

Aerith wisely decided not to inform the laboring man that she didn't have anything to do with this conception, and merely dodged the sloppily thrown rag. "Sephiroth, just push."

"Stop telling me to push!" Sephiroth roared angrily. "What do you think I'm trying to do!?"

"Crap!" Cloud ordered, almost laughing. "Is that better?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened at that, and he bit his bottom lip. Tears were streaking his face and he was certain that no agony was ever felt before on Earth. But even he had to admit that there was a touch of humor in this hellish scenario. Not only was he giving birth, but he was crapping the kids out.

Maybe it was a mix of the drugs or endorphins, but nothing was ever funnier to Sephiroth. He laughed, pausing to strain his voice as he added effort to the egg's unnatural path through his body. Cloud laughed with him, sniffing back tears as the fourth one poked out.

Sephiroth suddenly stopped laughing and tightened, and the egg was pulled backwards.

"Seph, it's almost there, just let it go!" Aerith called.

"No…" Sephiroth declared weakly, his mirth utterly forgotten. "I'm gonna fuckin' die."

"You're not dying Seph!" Cloud immediately shouted. "And I don't care if you don't like hearing it, but push!"

Sephiroth relaxed a bit and gave another labored push, but as the egg began to slide free, he tightened around it again. "Fuck!"

"I'll come in there and take it if you don't let go!" Cloud threatened.

With a shuddering, guttural sigh, Sephiroth released his internal grip on the egg and it slowly made its' agonizing way out. Cloud helped again by pulling gently, and the newest little egg was born into the world.

When Aerith took it away, Cloud nearly collapsed. He'd never gone through anything so emotionally taxing in his life. His first experience killing someone hadn't been as draining as seeing his lover in so much turmoil.

He quickly snapped out of it when he realized that Sephiroth was sobbing. Cloud went to the front of the bed to immediately hold him, forgetting to remove his gloves. Neither cared, they just needed to feel each other and remember that there was going to be a life after this that was going to be full of happiness. This would not last forever, but their lineage would.

Cloud kissed him, needing to do it more than Sephiroth needed to feel it. "One more time? Okay?"

Sephiroth shook his head, but said, "Okay."

Cloud kissed him again. "I'll stay up here with you. Hold my hand."

"No," Sephiroth grunted, shoving him away.

"You don't want me here with you?" Cloud pressed, lacing his fingers with Sephiroth's.

"No, Cloud. I'll hurt you. Like, for real," He muttered, unhooking his fingers and elbowing Cloud away.

Cloud bit back a sob. The guilt he was feeling for putting Sephiroth through this was tremendous, he almost wanted a broken hand or a few snapped ribs. But Sephiroth had already furrowed his brow and was snorting on air, gearing up for the last wave of anguish.

Aerith came hurrying back, and smiled at them both in excitement. "Alright, this is it! Sephiroth, you can do it!"

It took nearly thirty minutes, but the last one finally arrived. Sephiroth gripped the metal headboard and shoved from the inside. Without any queue of eggs behind it, it was the hardest one to release. The amount of blood and fluids released before the egg arrived soaked the towels and bedding.

"Shit!" Sephiroth screamed.

"Shit!" Cloud answered.

"Shit!" Aerith agreed.

And then it was over. The last tenacious little egg finally emerged, and Cloud scooped it up reverently. Aerith slowly took it from him, and went to put it with the rest.

Cloud wanted to fall to his knees, but instead threw his gloves down and returned to Sephiroth's side. He was as relaxed as Cloud had seen him since… well, since the morning after the babies' conception. Cloud smiled and wiped his hair away from his flushed face.

He opened his eyes and looked up at Cloud, blinking slowly. "…Was that gross or what?"

"Yeah…" Cloud swallowed. "But… I was in awe, Seph."

Suddenly Sephiroth sat up on his elbow. "Where are they?"

Cloud moved aside and let him see Aerith, who was listening to each little ellipse in turn with the stethoscope. Her forehead was crinkled with thought, then realized she was being looked at and grinned.

Sephiroth moved to sit up, then hissed sharply. "Ah!"

Aerith covered up the eggs and returned to him. She tapped Cloud's shoulder. "Go grab some more towels. Let's get him cleaned up and healed."

Sephiroth lay back obediently, but crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm fine. I just need a quick cure."

"Shut up," Aerith snipped, sick and tired of the General's diva behavior. Now that he was no longer pregnant, he had no excuse to be so bitchy and she refused to tolerate it. She gave him a cleansing cure first thing. The failed epidural was purged from his system, and he felt pain blast down his spine.

Horrifically enough, the drugs had helped… it was just that painful.

Aerith began to disconnect the machines from Sephiroth while Cloud cleaned him up with a hot, brief sponge bath. Afterwards, Aerith inspected the drop zone and ensured that Sephiroth didn't need to be sewn. Through the wonders of the human body, he was stretched and abused, but not torn – probably due to Cloud's help.

Aerith double checked for any egg shards, and then gave him another deep cure. Once he was restored, he immediately tried to stand.

"Jesus Sephiroth, I'll bring them to you! Just stay in bed!" Cloud cried.

"Like hell I will. I never want to be in this bed again!" Sephiroth stubbornly stood on his own two feet, which were trembling. "It's covered in blood, piss and shit, anyways."

"Sephiroth, please take it easy," Aerith suggested, coming closer to put a hand on Sephiroth's chest. "I'll bring you a new bed."

He glared at the both of them. "I have a brand new definition of pain, kiddies. I think I'll be able to walk just fine without your help, forever."

They both immediately raised their eyebrows and took their hands off of him. He leaned on Cloud while pulling on a loose pair of scrub pants, and was already steady on his feet as he marched directly to the little incubator. Cloud smiled at the fact that his lover's washboard stomach looked a lot closer to normal, but held a little jiggle. It was completely inappropriate, but he thought a little pudge on Sephiroth was incredibly sexy. He couldn't wait to try it out.

Sephiroth was peering into the incubator by the time they caught up with him. Aerith touched his arm, and he backed up and allowed her to open it.

"…When will they hatch?" Cloud wondered, lifting a heating pad and touching one.

"I don't know," Aerith admitted. "…Sephiroth? Do you have any idea?"

He leaned in closer, and touched one as though he weren't entirely sure it was real. It had the number one on it. Carefully, he lifted one up and held it in his hands. "I don't know what to do."

But that was a lie. He felt an urge to break the egg open. He wanted to throw it, drop it on the floor, crack it open any way he could. It was an uncontrollable instinct. Before he could over think it, he held the egg up and let it fall down onto the metal table.

"Sephiroth!" both Aerith and Cloud shrieked in terror.

But a soft cry made them go silent. The blue egg broke into large, neat pieces, and a very small baby wiggled within. Sephiroth gently tore the rest of the egg apart, and then lifted the baby up out of what remained.

The little boy looked damp, but perfectly smooth and fair. Pale hair matted his little head, and he wiggled restlessly in Sephiroth's hands, all tiny fists and feet. His eyes were clamped shut and his mouth opened and closed as he learned the simple art of breathing.

Sephiroth was frozen. Cloud approached with wide, startled eyes. Slowly, reached out to touch the little newcomer with a brush of his fingertips.

Aerith reached past Cloud and wrapped a tiny green hospital bracelet around the baby's flailing wrist. "Different colors for each," she whispered as the two fathers stared down at their little creation in total awe.

Suddenly Sephiroth snapped to attention and handed their first baby over to Cloud. "Wrap him up, I'll do the rest."

Cloud hardly knew how to hold such a tiny thing, but found a way by cradling it in the crook of his arm. The baby would need to be weighed, measured, checked out and swaddled. There was paperwork to be done. There were defects and diseases to check for. But despite knowing there were things to b taken care of, Cloud desperately wanted to watch the rest of his babies be hatched.

Suddenly, the lab's secure door hissed open. All three turned to the door in shock, and were deeply relieved when it was Zack. He looked a little worse for the wear, but he grinned happily to see all three on their feet, and something wiggly in Cloud's arms. "Hopefully I missed all the gross stuff, right?"

"What are you doing here?" Aerith fretted. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"Nah, I got injured in the epic Wally battle. I came here to get fixed up by my best girl!" Zack explained, quickly making his way over to Cloud. He knew it was pointless to ask, but he touched Sephiroth's bare arm, "You okay, man?"

"Of course," Sephiroth responded loftily.

"Is Wally okay?" Cloud asked, proudly shifting the baby so Zack could see him better.

"Yeah, it went down perfectly. I just thought you guys could use some help." He was already poking his face at the new baby's.

"Wash up first! You're filthy!" Aerith cawed, pushing Zack away from the infant. "Then hurry back and help me."

"Yes, ma'am," Zack tipped a hat that didn't exist and went to do just that.

Sephiroth put at ease by having another man there, especially one as trusted as Zack. He took the opportunity to select the next egg for hatching. He noticed one with a tic mark denoting the number two, and figured that going through the order numerically made perfect sense.

Number two was a particularly painful little fucker. He smiled as he gently coaxed cracks in the delicate egg's surface. Little feet from inside helped free itself, and a squeaky, weak little wail echoed off the walls.

"Oh my goodness," Cloud cooed in response, helping Sephiroth gently remove egg shards from the baby's soft skin. This little one didn't have much hair to speak of, but managed to fill the room with noise from its tiny lungs. When he was picked up however, something slithered from behind him and went straight into his mouth.

The tails. Sephiroth glanced at the first baby, and saw one wriggling around on the scale next to it.

He hadn't even noticed the tail. He looked back down at the little wiggly baby before him, shards of his eggshell still sticking to his damp skin. The infant was sucking on his tail contentedly, so obviously comforted by this extra appendage that Sephiroth felt deep shame in his former conviction to have them removed. Among other regretful thoughts, of course.

But those thoughts seemed unrecognizably foreign to Sephiroth now that he was actually seeing the painful little masses that had developed inside him and forced their way out into the world. After the total shock of seeing his first son, he allowed himself a clearer look at the second. With his toothless mouth full of his own tail, the baby's little hands moved around clumsily, seeming to want to touch everything and nothing.

Every motion and tiny sound it created made Sephiroth love it more. These children were going to complete his life, not end it. Sephiroth picked his second son up and pressed him against his chest. It was the best he could do to hug something so small.

Cloud brushed his fingers through the fuzzy pale hair on the top of the baby's head, and both fathers smiled when it turned towards the touch curiously. Sephiroth very carefully handed it… him over to Aerith. He was given a yellow bracelet and handled with utmost care as his health was verified.

Next was egg number three, and although it took great personal effort, Sephiroth handed it to Cloud. "You open it."

Cloud held it and attempted to let it drop as Sephiroth did with the first one, but found it impossible. Instead, he did knocked on the shell's delicate surface carefully, and they found that it housed an extremely eager little white-blonde boy.

Still halfway inside the egg, he grabbed onto Cloud's fingers and refused to be shaken off. Sephiroth and Cloud laughed at this, and in a way they never had before. It was a new sound to come out of their mouths, full of love and wonder for something they made together.

"Let go," Cloud laughed softly, finally breaking free of the infant's intense grip. He picked up him and the little boy wanted to grab everything, apparently so excited to be free that he wanted to learn everything in the world all at once. He grabbed Cloud's clothes, his hair, Sephiroth's fingers, even a lock of his father's silver hair fell into this path and he yanked it harshly. Cloud kissed his son's small, squinty face before he was given a red bracelet and passed on to a freshly scrubbed Zack.

Zack looked ecstatic to receive the small wonder. "Look at you! You're so cute! You're even cuter than I am – ow! That's my hair!"

The baby tormented Zack with his grabby hands and feet. Even his little tail whipped around to smack Zack in the face.

Sephiroth leaned down to whisper against Cloud's temple. "That's the one we should name after Zack."

"I like it," Cloud grinned, and humble cracked the fourth egg. It housed a silver haired little boy, this one very upset at being disturbed. When his egg home was invaded, he tried to hide behind his little flailing hands and be forgotten by the world.

Cloud brushed the remains of the egg off of him, "Oh my. We have a little grumpy butt here, don't we? Just like your big daddy, huh?"

The baby didn't seem to appreciate that comparison and continued to wail with an infant's delicate hoarseness. Sephiroth never thought such a noise would be so precious, but smiled wider as the child's octave rose. The baby was extremely discontent – until Cloud finally picked him up. Only then did he settle peacefully, and picked up fussiness right away when handed over to Aerith.

She gave him a blue bracelet and a kiss to the head, and he seemed to settle down a little.

"Four boys," Cloud whispered as they both looked at the last uncracked egg. "So… that's gotta be our little princess."

Sephiroth looked at the egg – a small number five denoted in black ink on her shell. The last one to come out, the last one to be opened. He felt something odd pull at his heart when he picked it up. It caused his eyes to widen, and there was urgency as he cracked open the delicate shell.

There was nothing in the last egg. It was completely empty, save for a thick, gushing drizzle of viscous fluid.

"Fuck," Sephiroth blurted. "What…?"

Cloud felt his stomach drop in mourning. Aerith was standing next to them, waiting with a pink blanket. She was frozen, and Zack paused too when he caught onto the tension in the room.

Sephiroth's breaths were quick, and before he could say anything else, Cloud took the pink blanket and covered the broken, empty egg with it. "It's okay, Seph – "

"No it isn't. Mom said four boys, and a girl." Sephiroth turned to Aerith in heartbroken despair. "Am I done? Was that all? Were there more inside me?"

Aerith shook her head, "No, Seph… you only had five eggs…"

"Do an ultrasound," Sephiroth ordered, hardly noticing that he had begun to pace, to stalk around in frustration. He felt hurt, he felt cheated, he felt suspicious. "Do it now. Then I want every fucking inch of this place searched. You're not keeping one of my kids to lock up and fuck up like you did me!"

"I've been working here less than a year, Seph. I haven't done anything to you! I'm on your side, you can't see that?" Aerith was truly hurt. After all of the petty verbal abuse she'd put up with from Sephiroth lately, this accusation was beyond what her heart could handle.

He wouldn't hear it though, "The rest of them know, you said in the very beginning you tried to tell them about it. You said they weren't interested in me anymore… I don't fucking believe that! The lab team should have been all over this from minute one and they weren't because they knew I'd fucking kill them for trying to take my kids! Don't you think for a second I won't kill you right now!"

Zack stepped forward a little bit, "Relax, Seph – "

Aerith cut Zack off with a heavily wavering voice. "I've been with you through all of this. They denied involvement in this project and haven't asked about it since then. I'm telling you the truth, I'm the only doctor assigned to you and I… I love you, I love Cloud, and I love your babies. Do you honestly believe I'd – "

"Yes, I do! I don't trust you! You work here, why would I ever trust you?! For all I know this is some fucking trap!"

Cloud touched Sephiroth's arm. "Honey. Please. Calm down and think for a second. Please."

The only thing that made Sephiroth pause for a breath was the sound of the fourth boy beginning to cry again. He looked at the four of them, swaddled separately in small cribs, and lowered his voice. He spoke to Aerith as civilly as he could manage, "I just…want an ultrasound. I need to see."

Aerith nodded, and wiped her eyes. "Right away."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cloud whispered, touching Sephiroth's hand.

"No. Stay with them," Sephiroth murmured, eying the entire room suspiciously, and then followed Aerith out.

Zack frowned as he watched the two of them leave. Once they were gone, he took a step towards Cloud. "… Are you okay?"

Cloud didn't think twice before he approached Zack and grabbed him tightly. "I know this is really gay, but I just need you to hold me for like one minute. Please?"

"Long as you need," Zack murmured. He rested his cheek on top of Cloud's hair, feeling the emotional exhaustion his small friend was feeling. He cleared his throat. "But yeah, this is pretty gay."

Cloud gave him a small laugh, only because he knew Zack was expecting it. But there was no humor in his voice as he murmured, "… Does an empty egg count as a death?"

Zack shook his head, "Hell no. It was just a dud, a blank. Not death, Cloud. Just not life, either."

A shade of gray. Cloud nodded against his chest, feeling better. Zack pulled him towards the direction where plenty of new life was waiting to be loved. "Come on. Check your kids out."

That statement made Cloud's spine tingle with both excitement and fear. He approached slowly where each blue little bundle was resting. Aerith and Zack had written their weights, lengths and order of appearance. They all seemed to be around five pounds. The longest one was only 14 inches. Cloud was amazed that these tiny creatures were actually people.

He lifted the yellow-braceleted one out, and the baby huffed in his sleep and shifted. Like his brothers, the child's features were punctuated by infancy, but Cloud could easily tell that this one resembled Sephiroth.

That was no surprise, but he wanted more info. So with two fingers, Cloud forced the little thing's eye open.

Pale mint green with a piercing cat slit.

The little boy did not like this, and turned his head away and hid in the folds of Cloud's smock. Cloud lifted him up to press a kiss against his forehead, and laid him back down. He then smiled and went to each boy one by one to steal a peek at his eyes. Two bright, sparkling baby blues, and one with a gorgeously complex ocean green which Cloud just had to pry open twice to fully appreciate. Despite the variances, they all had inherited Sephiroth's characteristic pupils.

Cloud knew babies' eyes usually changed, but he hoped they kept that slit, and were proud of who their father was…and what agony he went through for them.

Zack was poking at them all carefully, feeling little hands and soft baby fuzz. "They mutated from your sperm, Cloud."

Cloud giggled. "I know. Who knew my sperm could be so cute?"

Zack made a gagging noise and they laughed again, but stopped abruptly when Sephiroth reappeared in the doorway with Aerith. There were worlds and universes of anguish displayed on Sephiroth's beautiful face, but Cloud knew that they best thing to do wouldn't be to comfort him over the loss of a potential child.

Instead, he called to him. "Come here, Seph. Look."

Sephiroth's eyes fell on the towel that was covering their fruitless egg. Cloud bit his lip, wondering if he should have gotten rid of it while Sephiroth was out of the room. But the empty little egg wasn't garbage. They would handle it together, later.

Sephiroth schooled his features as he looked away from the towel, and approached Cloud and his four sons. Cloud reached up and cupped the back of Sephiroth's neck, pulling the taller man down into a hug. "I love you."

"You, too," Sephiroth almost muttered, but pressed a kiss to his ear. Then he paused for a moment, trying to find words. Finally, he whispered, "Are you disappointed?"

"No!" Cloud whispered back, hugging him even tighter.

"Are you sure?" he pressed, needing his lover's verification that he wasn't a failure, that he didn't somehow murder one of their children with his own stubbornness. What if he didn't eat enough to nourish her? What if he didn't rest enough and she couldn't handle it? What if he sucked in for too long and ruined her chance at thriving? What if she simply spirited herself away because of his ignorant hatred towards her?

Sephiroth would suffer from this loss for an incredibly long time. Cloud knew that. And he would mourn the thought of having a daughter, but he was too incredibly grateful for his sons that he didn't have room inside himself to feel that sadness right then.

"How could I ever be disappointed, Sephiroth?" he whispered. "You gave us such a pretty family."

"…Then there's nothing to be sorry for," Sephiroth said after looking at his sleeping boys for a moment. "Jesus, they all look just like you."

"And you," Cloud smiled, giving Sephiroth a lingering kiss. "They have your eyes, Seph."

Sephiroth let him go slowly. Zack and Aerith had distanced themselves and made busy with the red tape and documentation across the room. Cloud wrapped an arm around his lover's waist, making sure to cop a discreet feel of his temporary love handles, and led him to the cribs. "So, we need to fill out birth certificates, right? We know that the red bracelet is named Zack."

Zack's eyes shot up and he balked, "What? Oh shit, guys. You don't really have to do that!"

"Shut up," Sephiroth told him. "His name is Zack. Not Zach, with an 'h', though."

Cloud nodded and touched his son… Zack. "I love that name."

Sephiroth smirked. It disappeared almost immediately, but Cloud caught it and wasn't about to let go, "Ah. What was that smile?"

"Hm," Sephiroth tried to suppress it but it returned. "I like the name Thomas."

"Yeah?" Cloud urged.

"Baldy," Sephiroth smiled, touching his son with the yellow bracelet and the least amount of silver fuzz. "He kind of looks like Tommy Pickles."

"Did you really just make that reference?" Zack groaned.

Cloud laughed, "Thomas is a great name. Tom. Tommy. I like it."

"Thomas Edison," Aerith nodded. "A great man."

Cloud clapped his hands, "I've been thinking about a name, too."

Sephiroth smirked, "It better not be stupid."

"It's not," Cloud elbowed him. "Do you like the name Jamie?"

"As in James?" Sephiroth tilted his head.

"No, just Jamie." Cloud touched the one with the green bracelet, their very first son. "I think it's a sweet name. Do you like it?"

"Jamie," Sephiroth practiced. "I think James is more solid. We could always just call him Jamie at home"

"If we call him Jamie, why not name him Jamie?" Cloud pressed.

"I just wrote Jamie on the birth certificate," Aerith called.

"Yes!" Cloud pumped a fist and laughed when Sephiroth flicked his forehead.

"…I'll get used to it," he grumbled happily, looking down at his first little mutant and reaching in to stroke his soft cheek and the tiny bump of his nose. He had to admit, it was a cute name that oddly suited the little boy. "Jamie."

"Alright Aerith, weigh in on the last one," Cloud grinned, touching the ear of their second little angel who was sleeping with his tail still held firmly in his mouth. For fun, Cloud attempted to pull it out, but it slipped right back in the moment he let go.

She shook her head while she continued to document the newborns. "I really don't want that responsibility."

"C'mon! We all got to name one. Give us an idea," Cloud urged.

Aerith put her pen down and cupped her chin. "…Edward."

"Eh," Cloud and Sephiroth said simultaneously.

She then offered, "If not that, then definitely Jacob."

"Did you seriously just make that reference?" Zack shook his head and turn in his seat. "Please ask me to name the last one."

"Zack, name the last one," Sephiroth ordered.

"Easily done. Cloud, what's your grandfather's name?"

"Finneas."

"There you go!" Zack roared with laughter.

"Fuck that!" Sephiroth balked, then quieted down when one of the boys began to cry at the disturbance.

"There's nothing wrong with my Grandpa's name!" Cloud defended. "There's just nothing right with it, either."

"Okay, I thought of another one," Aerith announced. "Lucas."

Both Sephiroth and Cloud paused and looked at each other. Cloud spoke first, "That's an adorable name, Aerith."

"It's settled," she smiled. "I wrote it down."

"Zack… Tommy… Jamie… and Lucas," Cloud practiced.

"Normal names," Sephiroth said, almost relieved. "Except for Jamie, of course."

"Hey!" Cloud laughed, covering Jamie's tiny ears. "Don't tease him. He has enough to deal with, already."

"Ain't that the truth," Zack chimed.

"I can already tell they'll be heartthrobs," Aerith cooed. "They're gorgeous."

Sephiroth laughed, but something was pulling at his heart. He didn't know how else to say it except to just come out and say it. "I think they're hungry."

Cloud couldn't help but glance at Sephiroth's flat, toned chest. "What do we give them?"

"Formula," Aerith said, leaving Zack with the paperwork to finish. "I'll show you how to make it."

There was a break room in their closed off hallway, with a small kitchenette. Aerith explained that their children were not premature, but the formula for babies that were would be best, considering their small size. She prepared formula on the small stove, showing Cloud and Sephiroth the procedure and the do's and don'ts. They learned how to sterilize the bottles and nipples by boiling them, how to ensure that the formula heated evenly, and how to carefully pour it into clean bottle bags.

"This shit stinks so bad," Sephiroth complained as he carefully screwed on the cap to his bottle.

"Get used to it," Aerith advised. "You're going to be making this every few hours for the next several months."

"Shit," Sephiroth grumbled. They checked the bottles on their wrists to be certain that the formula was neither too hot nor too cold. Then reentered the delivery room to find Zack cuddling the yellow braceleted one – Tommy.

He looked up with a smile, "Good, it's meal time! They're all getting pretty grouchy. Well, grouchier in this one's case."

Aerith handed Zack one of the bottles, and like a natural father he held the child securely with one arm while running the nipple over the baby's lips. Tommy became curious and eventually took a hold of it, and then began to drink hungrily.

They each took a newborn at that point and did the same thing. Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of suckling. Cloud was feeding Lucas, Sephiroth held Little Zack, and Aerith was cooing down at Jamie while he drank.

After a few moments Zack announced, "Everyone stop your engines. Time for the fun part!" He held Tommy against his shoulder and tapped on his back until a tiny, satisfied burp came from the infant. "Score! You gotta stop every once in a while to burp them."

"That's so fucking cute," Sephiroth chuckled, much to everyone's surprise. He moved Little Zack to his shoulder, eager to try burping for himself. Cloud and Aerith joined in until all babies had burped, and they resumed feeding.

Only Lucas finished his entire feeding, the rest turned their heads away and refused to latch on once they were satisfied. Then, each one passed another adorable little bit of gas before falling into a deep slumber. Aerith decided to be cautious and hooked up monitoring devices to each babies' finger to ensure their heart rates continued throughout the night.

They were all utterly exhausted. Totally, irrevocably, and supremely exhausted. The gentle beeping of the babies' heart rates only added to this, and Sephiroth closed his eyes and actually began to doze off while standing up.

Aerith had prepared for this, too. There was a small but comfortable bed on wheels in the next room, and she and Zack pushed it in close to the cribs. Sephiroth was on it in an instant, and grumbled from the pillows, "Kill the lights."

Cloud crawled up next to him and grunted in agreement, too fatigued for words. Aerith shut off the main light, and touched Sephiroth's shoulder. "I'll be back in about four hours. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Sephiroth nodded up at her, and held her eyes for a moment. "Thank you."

Aerith smiled. "You did great today."

"I know," Sephiroth agreed, and his eyes swept closed. Aerith took Zack's hand and practically dragged him away from the slumbering babies, giving them and the new fathers some privacy. She locked the door behind them, and left a silence that was only punctuated with low beeps to ensure that their children's hearts maintained a healthy beat.

Cloud embraced Sephiroth in the dim lab. He had so much to say, but Sephiroth was already out cold. He kissed his cheek and slept with one ear open, waiting for any sound from their babies.

A/N

1\. The gang's all here! Story isn't over yet, though. Sephiroth and Cloud have a lot to learn as new parents, don't they? And I'm sure there's more story left to be told also. I'm just not sure how old I want to let them get, so don't expect THE LIFE STORY OF THE KITTENS AND THEIR KITTENS AND SO FORTH, but there is still plenty more to come.

2\. You'd do well not to correct my fake science. Also, my fake parenting – I researched as much as I could stand to. If I had it my way, they would have made the kittens peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat.


	9. 1 Month

Sephiroth's nose wrinkled.

An annoyance had been beating at the back of his brain for quite some time. But his own exhaustion had prevented it from fully waking him, and instead integrated it into his dreamscape : he was playing whack-a-mole.

Every time the grating noise threatened to wake him, he whacked a noisy, cranky, fair haired child on the top of the head with a red Nerf bat. He smiled slightly as he settled into deeper sleep, and began to enjoy this dream quite a bit. That is, until he heard Cloud's frustrated voice pierce through.

"Get the fuck up!" Cloud called into the bedroom, then in a slightly softer tone he implored, "Please, Seph?"

Sephiroth slowly came awake, and blinked sleepily as he looked at the clock. Midnight.

Two hours. This time, they'd let him sleep for a whole two fucking hours.

He rolled out of bed and tightened the drawstring of his sleeping pants, which nearly slid down off of his hips. He'd been too damn tired to even think about working out since they'd brought the babies home from the lab, but the weight was dropping off of him as his male metabolism began to steadily hum again. It wasn't going to help him regain all the definition his stomach once had, but for the time being he was satisfied with being able to see his own feet. Inverted sit ups and four hour runs could come later.

It was only three weeks ago that they'd brought their tiny, delicate children home. It had been Sephiroth that insisted they be removed from the lab as soon as safely possible. Once Aerith had confirmed that each little infant was healthy and perfect, they were home within the hour.

Now though? He'd be glad to send the runts back to the lab.

He stomped sleepily into the nursery, and without having to turn on the light he went to Lucas' crib. He could easily tell the shrieking was coming from him, because his cry was the only one that could make Sephiroth's teeth hurt. He scooped the baby up with a sigh and held him against his shoulder. He rubbed his son's small back in soothing circles, bouncing him slightly and shushing him.

"What does he need?" Sephiroth mumbled to Cloud, who was hastily changing Tommy's latest stinky diaper.

"Nothing!" Cloud hissed. "Jamie was hungry, so I fed him. That woke up Tommy who had a messy butt, so that woke up Luke who's being a little diva again and just wants to be held." Cloud then shot a venomous look at Zack. "And it's still sleeping so we're using our best whispering voices."

Sephiroth was relieved when Lucas almost immediately calmed down and settled against his shoulder. Content with being held, the baby quickly returned to sleep.

Little bastard.

Cloud finished Tommy's diaper. He gave his son a kiss and laid him down before heading for the door, "I might as well warm him up something before he starts fussing, too."

"Cloud," Sephiroth called. "Go to bed."

"No," he argued grumpily. "I'm up now, and I can't – "

"Go get the earplugs," Sephiroth muttered. Having Cloud storming around tired and angry made things worse, he'd rather do it all himself than listen to the blonde's grumpiness. "I'll feed Tom after Lucas shuts up."

Cloud leaned against the door in a Victorian swoon. "…Are you sure?"

The earplugs had become the ultimate bargaining tool in their relationship. Do the morning baths? Earplugs in the afternoon. Take care of the post-lunch round of diapers? Earplugs in the evening. Stay up and bounce Lucas for eight hours straight – which was often necessary for a quiet night? Get the earplugs the next morning.

The most dreaded activity of all was cutting holes into the daily supply of diapers for the babies' tails to poke through. That task had to be shared, it wasn't even worth having the earplugs to take it all on by oneself.

Sephiroth nodded, settling comfortably in the rocking chair with their affection-craving son. "Just go to bed. I've got them."

Cloud smiled, too tired to even walk to his lover to kiss him. Instead he just puckered out a kiss and blew it weakly. "See you at breakfast, handsome."

"I'll be here," he nodded. Lucas' green eyes blinked up at him in the dark, and Sephiroth continued to bounce him. "…What are you looking at?"

Lucas' closed his eyes indifferently.

Sephiroth leaned his head back and traded the bounces for the steady rhythm of the automatic rocking chair. He had called it stupid when Cloud brought it home, but now Sephiroth was thanking every deity in the sky for it. The rocking sent both silver haired men to sleep with speed and accuracy.

Before Sephiroth could slip entirely away, he heard Tommy make a soft gurgling noise. Not wanting to risk another fit of crying from Lucas – or God forbid Zack, Sephiroth slowly stood up and placed his snoozing infant into his crib, then rolled him onto his stomach as delicately as if he were a hydrogen bomb. It was Sephiroth's private trick : Luke liked sleeping on his stomach better. Cloud was worried that he'd somehow suffocate, but he knew the boys were more resilient than that.

He smoothed the back of Lucas' fine silver hair and carefully backed away. He looked down at Tommy and saw cool, mint green eyes looking up at him patiently.

Sephiroth leaned on his crib. "I guess you're hungry."

Tommy wiggled at that and Sephiroth decided to don the much-hated baby sling. It reminded him way too much of being pregnant again, but one kid was much easier to handle than all five at once.

Four. All four at once. Sephiroth pushed that thought away and dropped Tommy into the sling. He then made his way into the kitchen and went about fixing him a midnight snack.

Making formula had became second nature to both he and Cloud. He placed the pre-made bottle into boiling water for a few minutes, shaking it frequently to make sure it heated evenly. As new parents, they'd accidently burnt all four of their babies' little tongues at various points, and it was honestly the most heartbreaking feeling in the world. Mostly because despite the burns, they still trusted them every single time they had a new bottle ready.

Babies were weird.

Sephiroth tested the bottle thoroughly before he popped it into Tommy's mouth with confidence that it wouldn't accidently hurt him. The baby drank hungrily, staring up at his father all the while.

It unsettled Sephiroth just a little, the way his sons stared up while they were feeding. Cloud said it was an important bonding mechanism, and to always meet their eyes when they stared like that. Apparently they'd grow up with a lingering feeling of being unloved if they didn't, which was pure bullshit.

But Sephiroth met his child's stare anyways, wondering what the smaller version of himself was thinking. He'd been a bald newborn, but in only two weeks he was growing a healthy crop of silver hair. Out of all the mutants, he could tell that this one was going to resemble himself the most.

He wondered if the baby was feeling the same genetic déjà vu when looking at his father. Or if he was planning on becoming better than him – which is what he was going to have to do if he wanted to break away from Sephiroth's shadow, especially if he wanted a decent career in the military. Surely Tommy wouldn't expect any sort of special treatm –

Sephiroth chuckled to himself as he continued to share a gaze with his son. The little boy wasn't even a month old. For all he knew, he might have a passion for art, or business, or even fucking farming. What would he do if a product of himself turned to a simple life of Earth cultivation. How ironic would that be, all things considered?

He stopped to burp Tommy, but the baby wouldn't latch back onto the bottle for more. Sephiroth knew Cloud would yell at him in the morning, but he dumped the unwashed bottle into the sink and left it.

Tommy was already closing his eyes when he was being laid down. Jamie was snoring like a buzzsaw around a mouthful of his tail. Luke was still peaceful on his tummy.

Sephiroth attempted to creep past Zacky's crib entirely but heard the telltale swishing of his diaper. Sephiroth hung his head slightly and went to his crib, and sure enough, the little blond demon's eyes were open and peering up at him as he gently tried to kick his feet as best he could with such limited motor skills.

Sephiroth's arms dove into the crib to snatch the baby up and pop a pacifier into his mouth before he could make noise and disturb his brothers. It's not that Zacky was a crier like Lucas, he was just extremely loud in general. He cooed and kicked, drooled and waved his little arms and fingers around to yank and explore whatever fell into his path. His tail was like a feeler, and often knocked things over if he got close enough.

If he had been an only child, his infant precociousness would have been adorable. To parents of four, it was just overkill.

Sephiroth tucked his wiggliest child into the baby sling and sat with him in the rocker. He stuck his finger in the baby's line of fire and let him squeeze and grab at it. Zacky quickly bored of that and went for the hair.

"Fine, I don't care anymore," Sephiroth muttered, and gave his son a healthy handful. The baby was delighted by a new distraction and made a drool covered rat's nest of the small section of Sephiroth's knee length tresses that he had been allotted.

"You're just like your other dad," Sephiroth decided, closing his eyes now that his noisy blond brat was content.

Once his eyes were shut, Sephiroth felt reality plummet away. Technically, Sephiroth did get at least 8 hours of sleep a day - it was just never all at once. Two hours here, an hour there, a luxurious four hours here. Even at war, he always managed to get some solid time for rest in. This was the most tired he had ever been in his life, and he hadn't even left the apartment in days.

With Zacky secure in the baby sling, Sephiroth let his arms loosen and his mind relax as the rocker worked its' magic.

Daddy was out cold within moments. Eventually Zacky grew tired of playing in his father's hair and dozed off as well.

And that was how Cloud found Sephiroth and Zacky the next morning. No matter who fussed, Sephiroth left the slumbering blond baby in the sling, and always returned to the rocker when he was able. The two hours before dawn were entirely uninterrupted, and when Cloud entered to prepare for the morning, the nursery was full of snoring men, none louder than the two in the rocker.

Fortunately, nobody woke up to ruin the moment while Cloud ran to get the camera. Unfortunately, the flash woke up Lucas, who shattered the peace with a staggered shriek.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Another two weeks passed like a moment. Both parents were becoming far more resilient in their lessening need for sleep, and felt more awake and aware. They began noticing small differences in their babies, and themselves.

Sephiroth began to excuse himself to jog in the early afternoon when the babies were most restful. Cloud began to actually take showers again. The babies were growing hair and becoming fatter and cuter every single day, so much so that Cloud practically lived behind a camera lens.

Then came the day when the phone began to ring again. A full month on lockdown had left everyone in their lives feeling a bit bewildered.

Aerith wanted to have a formal checkup on the babies, and Cloud smiled into the phone, "Why don't you come by on Saturday and see them? I miss you!"

Aerith had happily agreed, and promised to bring Uncle Zack.

Zack himself called not too long after to speak to Sephiroth, "So, how are you chief?"

"Fine," Sephiroth grumbled.

"Feeling…better?"

"Of course."

"Coming back anytime soon?"

Sephiroth had sighed, knowing that sooner or later he'd have to return to his military duties. "I'm going to call Laz and let him know that I'm returning in three weeks."

"Awesome," Zack sighed. Taking on Sephiroth's work load was like a death sentence, but at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Oh, by the way, you're coming over on Saturday," Sephiroth told him.

"Oh! You having a party?"

"Party…?" Sephiroth frowned.

"Gen and Angeal are dying to know why you've been out for so long. You've basically disappeared, ya know." Zack then made a pained sound. "Do you even know how hard of a secret this is to keep? Everyone's gonna know sooner or later. Might as well be now, while they're still cute."

Sephiroth brought it up to Cloud while they were feeding the babies their lunches. "So Aerith and Zack are coming Saturday?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded, sharing a loving gaze with Jamie while stroking his bright white hair. "Don't worry about anything. Friday afternoon I'll find time to clean the house."

"Okay," Sephiroth said, bouncing Lucas when he began to fuss a little. "So… what if we invite some more people?"

"Like who?"

"You know. The usuals," Sephiroth shrugged.

Cloud smiled brilliantly, "You're finally ready to show off the little ones?"

"Everyone's going to find out sooner or later," Sephiroth scowled, then smiled for Lucas who reacted badly to the negative facial expression. "Might as well be now… while they're still cute."

Cloud began the burping process with Jamie. "Invite whoever you want."

On Friday, Sephiroth showed Cloud the confirmed guest list before he went to the store to get snacks.

"Fifty people?" Cloud balked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the babies in the next room. "Shit. I'll have to have some more seating brought in. I'm pretty sure this building offers some of those folding chairs for free, you just have to give a deposit…" Cloud was thinking out loud and trailed off as he continued to write.

"Some might bring dates," Sephiroth remembered. "So the final count might be more like seventy-five."

"This was supposed to be an intimate get together!" Cloud laughed, and continued writing his needs and ideas. "Okay, we'll need booze apparently. I was going to make some casserole, I guess I'll just make ten. Um… cakes? Cakes would be nice."

Sephiroth perked up, but then became sullen. He was on a strict diet. "Get some vegetables for me."

Cloud nodded, "Veggies and fruit. Want your favorite dip?"

"No dip," he growled, clearly wanting it but denying himself.

"The guests can have dip," Cloud amended. "I'll get the kind you hate."

"Thanks," Sephiroth stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes.

Cloud slowed in his writing a bit as his thoughts zeroed in on his lover's slimming physique. "…Oh. I didn't even notice you could fit in jeans, again."

"Yeah, two days ago they finally zipped up." Sephiroth lifted his shirt and revealed a small amount of bulge over the jeans. "Barely, though."

Cloud swallowed as his eyes raced over Sephiroth's lounging form, his hand running idly over the small pop of flesh over the snug jeans. He then mentally slapped himself across the face with the image of the poor man passing five eggs out of his body. Even though all Cloud wanted was to have Sephiroth inside him, the General obviously wasn't ready yet.

He folded the paper into his pocket and crawled over to kiss Sephiroth's mouth chastely. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay," Sephiroth closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. Cloud tore him apart with his eyes before quickly vacating.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next day found Cloud laughing as he dressed their babies. They were accustomed to onesies and perhaps the occasional t-shirt – they didn't feel like cutting tail-holes in the bottom of anything that wasn't essential. But with company coming over, and since they were finally big enough to fill out actual clothes they were dressed in tiny, soft outfits with matching socks and pacifiers.

The boys looked so fucking cute that Cloud couldn't stop giggling. He even combed their fair hair before wrapping a bib around each of them to keep them as clean as possible for as long as possible. The bibs were custom made with each boy's name stitched onto it in cute blue lettering. Cloud figured the babies wouldn't mind wearing dorky name tags on their big debut, and it would be kind to the guests who might not have been able to tell the four boys apart. They weren't identical, but to a new eye they might have appeared that way.

The little boys didn't know what to think of it, but cooperated in their own wiggly way – especially since their father was clearly pleased with them. With Cloud doting and cooing at them, even Lucas cracked a smile.

Sephiroth had been taking a very long and much-needed shower, and emerged in a towel to find five men in the room, four of which were looking very fashionable. Cloud gazed up at his partner, and at the dewy drops still rolling down his wet body. His nipples were hard, his damp hair was clinging to his shoulders, and there was a telltale bump in the towel where his genitals pressed from underneath. He was slightly soft around his waist, but it only added to his mass and enhanced his appeal.

Sephiroth was obviously ignorant to the steamy, erotic picture he made standing there naked and wet, and didn't even look at Cloud. He was busy regarding the babies as they wiggled on the bed in their coordinated outfits.

"Give it up, Cloud. They're just gonna throw up all over themselves," Sephiroth smiled as he went to change in their walk in closet.

Cloud swallowed as his mental focus shifted away from Sephiroth's sexiness and back to putting the finishing touches on Zacky's wispy blond hair. He decided to tease. "You're just jealous they look better than you do!"

"Very jealous," Sephiroth called sarcastically through the closet door. He threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and reemerged with the towel on top of his head.

Cloud rubbed his thigh as he passed, "I want a shower, too. Will you take them into the living room and sit with them?" Sephiroth began to groan, and Cloud quickly closed himself into the bathroom to give him no choice. "I'll be quick!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. With two in the sling and one in each arm, he carried the stylish group of babies to the couch, where their soft, reclined booster seats were waiting. He dropped a kid in each one, and then strapped them in. It was funny to him that a seatbelt was needed for what was essentially a portable bed – especially if they were unable to roll themselves over yet, but Cloud insisted they be secure at all times.

The babies seemed to sense that something was up, and all peered up at Sephiroth with large, questioning eyes. He shrugged down at them. "Don't look at me. I'm not the one who dressed you."

The babies continued to stare up in confusion, except for Tommy who found something about what was just said slightly humorous and gurgled a chuckle through his pacifier. Sephiroth rubbed Tommy's soft silver hair, making the baby chuckle harder. Smiles were his favorite thing about his children, by far.

Cloud came rushing out of the bathroom with a towel on his head and went straight for the kitchen, "Okay, I'm out! I need to start cooking!"

Sephiroth left the kids on the couch and followed him. "Do you need some help?"

Cloud shook the towel through his wet hair and dropped it onto the floor as he began to search for items to create his casseroles. "Nah, not really. It's just mixing and baking."

Sephiroth stood and watched, anyways. Not because he was interested in helping, but because Cloud was… gorgeous.

Over the past three weeks, Cloud had been in sweatpants, usually unshowered, and tremendously tired. He'd even taken to wearing a headband over his spiky hair to keep it out of Zack's grabby hands.

But now he was pretty, fresh, and his excitement to be a party host made him appear well rested. He had put on a little black sleeveless shirt with a hood on it, and a pair of simple, but cutely snug jeans over blue sneakers. His hair was damp and brushing his shoulders, leaving tiny patches of wetness behind.

Sephiroth couldn't resist, and approached him slowly. He let his eyes coast over the small curve of his ass and the tempting length of his legs, wanting nothing more than to have them draped over his shoulders. He was nearly touching him when there came a knock at the door.

"That's Zack and Aerith, will you let them in?" Cloud continued to set up his workspace for cooking, and tucked a long, wet strand of hair behind his ear.

Sephiroth felt a little flustered as he turned away from Cloud's unintentional charms, and opened the door. Aerith buzzed past him, cooing, "Where are they!"

"On the couch," Sephiroth grunted, and was surprised by a brief bro-grab from Zack.

"It's been a while!" he gushed somewhat sheepishly, backing away before he was smacked.

"It feels like five seconds to me," Sephiroth shrugged, but indulged Zack's need for contact with a tap to his arm. "Come on."

Zack followed Sephiroth into the living room where Cloud had abandoned his cooking to help Aerith fawn over the babies.

"They grew so much!" Aerith gushed, unstrapping Jamie from his little seat to pick him up. Jamie seemed a little distrustful of her at first, as it was his first real contact with a stranger after his first three days of life. He'd forgotten about her, but her natural way of holding him calmed the baby's nerves.

"I know. They're still little peanuts, but they can fit into clothes at least," Cloud agreed, hovering over Aerith for a moment before deciding she was well schooled in baby holding arts. He opted to pick up Lucas – more for himself than for the baby, though.

Zack looked down at his little blond namesake and couldn't resist pulling him up as well. "Is he still handsy? – oh yep." Little Zack grabbed a handful of dark hair with both chubby hands, answering the question immediately.

Cloud looked apologetic. "I can get you a hair band if you want."

"That's okay," Zack laughed as the baby wiggled and squirmed against his shoulder, yanking the longer strands of his hair like reins.

There was one baby left in the seats, and little Tommy looked perfectly content to simply watch them with calmly blinking green eyes. Sephiroth didn't want the little guy to feel left out – and frankly he felt a little left out, too. So he scooped Tommy up and hugged him gently, secretly loving the feeling of the little boy laying in his arms.

Soon Cloud and Aerith retreated to the kitchen, leaving snoozing babies behind with Sephiroth and Zack.

Little Zack had fallen asleep on the SOLDIER's shoulder, and Tommy was snoring in Sephiroth's lap – who was having a hard time keeping his own eyes open. "…When they sleep, I want to sleep."

"Is it hard being a dad?" Zack asked.

"It's not that it's hard, it just wears you out. One of them is almost always up, wanting something. It's almost like my work as General, only I'm wiping my kids' asses instead of yours." Sephiroth carefully placed Tommy back in his seat and buckled him up. "Cloud and I are having a pretty good time though, all things considered."

"I knew you'd like being a parent," Zack murmured, having no intention of giving Little Zack up just yet.

Sephiroth relaxed against the couch. "It's nothing like how I thought it would be."

"They say fathers aren't really fathers until they see the kid," Zack said, rubbing his baby's small back. He then kicked Sephiroth's leg. "You still willing to give me this one?"

"I would love to give that little shit away, but Cloud might have a problem with it," Sephiroth smiled.

Soon, the house smelled like Cloud's casserole and the people began to file in. Cloud opened the glass doors to the pool area where he'd set up the additional seating, and before they knew it they had a party on their hands.

Some of their peers had an idea that the General and Cloud had adopted a child, from gossip around the lab and headquarters. When Sephiroth invited them over to meet a "new addition to their family", the entire company was practically raging with intrigue. Not even the wildest rumors could have possibly suggested that the addition would be quadruplets, or that they were all the natural spitting images of both Cloud and Sephiroth.

The woman were frantic. The huge eyes, the wispy hair, the chubby cheeks – the tails. Each little boy was cuddled, hugged, petted and kissed into submission. Only Jamie seemed to have a problem with this, but the more he fussed the more determined they ladies became to cover his entire little face in kisses.

Not only did the ladies dote over the baby boys, they were perfectly willing to change their messy diapers and bibs throughout the day. When feeding times rolled around, they practically grappled one another for the chance to feed the adorable infants. Cloud and Sephiroth were more than grateful for the respite from their duties, and gladly showed them where the baby supplies were.

Cloud's cooking was consumed and enjoyed by everyone. The snack trays quickly became barren and the cakes disappeared. Sephiroth decided to sneak a small slice of the cinnamon cake and run a little extra tomorrow – just this once.

Angeal and Genesis were so surprised by all of this that they couldn't stop repeating themselves, "I can't believe you're a dad, now!"

But it was undeniably true. From Tommy's big green cat eyes to Little Zacky's characteristically full mouth, they were Sephiroth's kids. And from Jamie's sky blue cat eyes to Lucas' button nose, they were Cloud's kids.

Aerith was happy to explain how it was done through genetic manipulation and test tubes, with huge words that nobody in the party understood. They congratulated her on the advancement in science, and Sephiroth caught her eyes to wordlessly thank her for her silence.

As the stars began to come out, the party dwindled. Everyone was sympathetic towards the tired new parents, and excused themselves earlier than they would have under more normal circumstances. Even the babies were wiped out, and snoring soundly in the nursery with ultra clean diapers and full tummies.

Zack and Aerith were the first to arrive and the last to leave. She hugged both fathers and reminded them of their appointment the following Monday, "I can tell they're healthy boys, but it's good to check them after the first month. You can bring them bimonthly after."

"I'll call you," Cloud told her, and gave a lingering hug to Zack.

Sephiroth was only too happy to slam the door behind them. They caught each other's eyes for a moment, before Cloud pulled away to regard the mess their home had become. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but to two exhausted men it was an atrocity.

Sephiroth wanted to conserve his energy for more satisfying activities. "…Let's just leave it for tomorrow."

Cloud shook his head. "No, I can't sleep with the place like this." Sephiroth was about to tell him that he had no intention of sleeping, when Cloud turned to him to continue, "If you gather up the dishes and put them in the sink, I'll bag up the trash. Then I'll do the dishes and you do the laundry."

Cloud didn't want for a confirmation, he began to clean. Sephiroth sighed in disappointment and pushed himself off the door to assume his given tasks. Within half an hour the apartment had been picked up, and the washing machine was full of soiled baby clothes.

Sephiroth walked through the sprawling apartment, considering just curling up into bed and leaving seduction for a more opportune time, when he noticed one last plate that he had neglected to take into the kitchen.

Sephiroth padded in in his socks and place last dirty dish on the counter beside Cloud's hastily shrinking pile. Sephiroth took a long look at the back of Cloud's neck, the curves of his shoulders and the fall of his pretty yellow hair. He admired Cloud's delicateness for the hundredth time that evening, and couldn't resist touching him.

Sephiroth took his cool hands and brushed the damp hair off the back of Cloud's neck. "Almost time for a haircut."

Cloud smiled and shied away from the ticklish touch. "Yeah, soon. I'm starting to look scruffy, hm?"

"Nah," Sephiroth told him, smoothing out his lover's overly chaotic spikes to little avail. "It's just you."

Cloud's eyes lidded slightly as Sephiroth bent to kiss his neck. It felt good… almost breathtakingly good. He tilted his head for more, and shivered as Sephiroth slowly smooched his way up to Cloud's ear.

He gave it a small nudge with his lips. "… How are you?"

"…Busy, tired and happy," Cloud told him, turning his head to look up at his partner.

"Is this what you wanted?" Sephiroth asked, still idly kissing the side of Cloud's face.

"A family with you is everything I wanted," Cloud smiled, bumping his head affectionately against his lover's. Sephiroth reached past Cloud and turned the faucet off, and took the sponge out of Cloud's hands.

"It's not so bad," Sephiroth agreed, kissing Cloud's cheek once more before working over to Cloud's mouth. They shared a kiss that lingered on the border of chastity, then deepened with a long flick of Sephiroth's tongue. It slid into Cloud's mouth once before pulling away again. "…I'm missing you."

Cloud found himself shuddering under this small attention, and arched his back against Sephiroth. His hands were still wet, but he cupped them over Sephiroth's anyways. "Missing you, too."

"They'll be down for a while," Sephiroth told him, letting his hands slide lazily over the front of Cloud's shirt. "So… can we…?"

Cloud laughed a little bit at all the virginal awkwardness, "What is this, our third date?"

"Help me out here…" Sephiroth chuckled and leaned against him, pulling him tighter. "It's a little weird. It's been a while for us… over a month – "

"Six weeks, three days," Cloud blurted. "Not that I'm counting or anything. I just wasn't sure when you'd want to start that up again…"

"It's not like I'm a woman who needs a recoup period," Sephiroth argued, but very lightly as he felt less awkward with every kiss he gave.

"If I went through what you went through, I don't think I'd ever touch me again!" Cloud laughed, feeling more as ease as Sephiroth relaxed behind him.

"I think we've both just been tired," Sephiroth stopped to suck his lips into a kiss. "I just wasn't sure if you were even thinking about us again, yet. About sex – "

"I have," Cloud turned in his arms and began to yank Sephiroth's pants open with eager hands. Sephiroth enthusiastically agreed with deep, lingering kisses, and stopped only to tear Cloud's shirt over his head in.

Clothes began to hit the kitchen floor. Sephiroth was slightly aware of his body still not being everything it used to be, but Cloud's greedy hands and fierce scent of arousal put any self doubt out of his mind. Cloud pushed down his own pants and underwear in record time and hopped up onto the counter, freely offering up his body.

He took Sephiroth's hands and guiding them over his stomach and chest. "Touch me."

Sephiroth kissed and licked down Cloud's body, stopping to nibble everywhere he knew would make Cloud moan for him. His nipples, his ribs, his bellybutton, the inside of his thighs. He teased but not too much, just enough that when he finally sucked the swollen head of his arousal, there was a thick, salty drop of Cloud's juice waiting for him.

"Seph," Cloud gasped, and fell back against the microwave and spread his legs out wide.

"Dirty boy," Sephiroth muttered with Cloud's cock bouncing against the inside of his cheek as he spoke, glaring up with furious lust in his green eyes.

"Just for you," Cloud agreed, his senses and mind thrilled beyond comprehension. He shuddered in virginal fear as Sephiroth's cat eyes pierced his, and his wide, sexy mouth lowered onto his blushing cock. He squeezed his eyes closed, and squealed when Sephiroth slapped the inside of his thigh.

"Watch while I suck your cock," Sephiroth warned, and stared up as he went back to work. He then stopped and pumped Cloud's shaft enough to tease while he went beneath and sucked both of his balls into his hot mouth.

Cloud whimpered, bucking his hips up into Sephiroth's fist. "I missed that…"

In response, Sephiroth lapped his tongue against them. Cloud choked on air and gasped in frustration, gripping the edge of the counter hard. "You're so fucking good, Seph…"

Sephiroth pulled away and ran his fingers over Cloud's hole. "You want me in there?"

"Yeah," Cloud licked his lips and spread himself wider. "Now."

"Dirty little boy," Sephiroth repeated, grinning as he pushed his fingers into Cloud's wet mouth.

Cloud nodded as he sucked his lover's fingers, swirling his tongue as they pressed into his teeth. He nipped them hard enough to make Sephiroth hiss, and swallowed them down to the knuckle before coming back up. "Put them in, Seph."

Sephiroth couldn't contain a small moan as he pressed his middle finger into Cloud. Was he always so tight? So hot? So smooth? So fucking perfect?

"Seph," Cloud whispered, and his eyes closed as a shiver ran through his thin frame.

"What?" Sephiroth asked as innocently as he could manage – which was not much. He didn't wait for a response before pulling his finger back only to push it in harder.

Cloud opened his mouth, but all that escaped was a needy moan. He gasped and leaned forward suddenly to seize Sephiroth's lips.

What babies? Nothing else existed or mattered, just the delicious blend of pain and pleasure that they could give each other. They kissed each other roughly, and the sounds of their lips and tongues was echoed by the small, wet pop of Sephiroth adding another finger.

Sephiroth growled and picked Cloud up with ease. Their new kitchen was nice, but the counters were just a bit too low to fuck Cloud properly on. So he strode into the living room and dropped him on the soft couch cushions, and knelt between his open legs. He pushed his fingers back inside and smiled as a shocked slither rocked Cloud's frame.

"Lemme," Cloud sat up a little and licked his lips, taking Sephiroth's hard arousal in both hands. He ducked his head down and slurped it, leaving the sensitive head shiny and wet. He flicked it with his tongue, and shuddered as Sephiroth's fingers threaded into his spikes and pulled.

He could have been perfectly happy to blow his load across Cloud's lips, and was tempted to do just that. The way his blond spikes bounced was so pretty in unison with the soft moans he made as he tongued the slit. Sephiroth hissed, and Cloud knew the sounds of his lover enough to pull away.

He made a mess of the couch cushions as he leaned back, and pulled his knees up to his chest. He made the sexiest picture Sephiroth had ever seen with his damp skin, pretty eyes, hard cock and wet, ready hole… it was how he always looked. Perfect.

Then Cloud smiled, flashing his white teeth in a sultry smile. "C'mon, daddy…"

Sephiroth took himself in hand and rubbed himself against the small opening before he pressed in like it was the first time. Cloud was so tight around him, he squeezed every inch of his cock as he slide inside. He panted softly up at him, his pink tongue flicking out to wet his lips. Sephiroth leaned down to catch it, and they became lost in a kiss as the base of Sephiroth's pelvis touched Cloud's upturned ass.

"You feel good," Cloud accused breathlessly, his blue eyes open just a crack to glare up at Sephiroth. There was a thin veil of wetness in them, and Sephiroth moaned softly as he pulled back.

"Did you forget?" Sephiroth asked calmly, damn surprised that he could even find his voice with Cloud's ass swallowing his entire cock whole.

Cloud smiled as he watched his lover shiver as he began to set a slow pace. "… Mm, Seph. Just… keep it in deep."

"Like this?" Sephiroth whispered for fear of moaning too loud, and rolled his hips against Cloud's. The effect was maddening, it massaged his head against Cloud's prostate perfectly, sending the blond's hips up to smack at Sephiroth's.

"Yes," Cloud hissed, watching the tiny movements Sephiroth made between his legs create fireworks against his spine. "… I love when you fuck me like that."

Sephiroth picked up Cloud's legs and pushed them up, nuzzling his cock even deeper inside. Cloud began to mew almost melodically, and Sephiroth nearly teared up in his realization of how much he missed their physical love. It was only a few weeks without Cloud's body, but he needed him. And he wouldn't let himself go without it for so long ever again.

Cloud shivered as he watched Sephiroth work, noting they very small amount of jiggle his manhandles still had. It was all nearly gone, but Cloud wanted to use it while he still could. He slid his hands up Sephiroth's sides, letting them coast back down to his slightly softer hips. He grabbed on, guiding them to grind into the deliciously sensitive spot inside him.

Sephiroth cupped Cloud's jaw, a spike of possessive love causing him to squeeze it tightly. It got Cloud's attention, and he looked up into his green, burning eyes.

"I love you," Sephiroth told him.

"Love you – " Cloud arched up hard, nearly coming right then. He then grabbed Sephiroth's hips again and yanked them.

Sephiroth gave in and pulled back out of Cloud's heat only to drop back in. He was too intoxicated by the tightness to pull back too much, and gave Cloud a short, quick, heavily punctuated rhythm. His balls began to beat quickly against Cloud's slightly inverted lower back.

He shivered, almost forgetting about the children as he let out a sharp wail of pleasure. "Fuck!"

"Come on," Sephiroth rasped, his cock throbbing inside Cloud with the need for release.

Cloud fisted himself, every moment closer to his climax made him pulse even tighter around Sephiroth. "Oh shit, Seph!"

Sephiroth shuddered, and squeezed Cloud's face between his fingers, forcing him to look only at him as he spilled waves of heat out inside of him. He moaned desperately as he dug his fingers into his lover's precious face. "Do you fucking feel me, Cloud?"

"Mmm!" Cloud growled as hot tears collected in his eyes. He struggled to keep them open as a heavy climax ripped through him. The hard heat buried inside him and nudging against his prostate only served to drive him that much more insane.

And finally, the sharp pleasure ebbed, and Sephiroth and Cloud were left locked together and breathless. Sephiroth loosened his grip on Cloud's face, kissing the marks he'd left as they began to fade almost immediately.

Cloud kissed him, not letting him budge from where he was. "…First sex as parents."

Sephiroth smiled down at him. "Parent sex is pretty hot."

Cloud laughed, causing himself to tighten rhythmically around Sephiroth, "… Do you think our parents had sex that hot?"

"No way," Sephiroth smiled, playing with Cloud's soft hair. So they laid for a moment, allowing each other to catch a breath, and to further enjoy the intimacy of post-orgasmic closeness.

The minutes felt slow. Their lips met again, and Sephiroth was surprised to feel himself begin to slowly harden again inside Cloud. Their tongues had just begun to slide together when a swishing of a diaper could be heard from the nursery. A tiny squeak followed that could only have been from Zack.

Sephiroth mumbled as Cloud shifted beneath him, and their limbs unlocked. "You get it."

"You get it. I'll finish the dishes." Cloud argued.

Sephiroth frowned as he slid out from between Cloud's legs and grumpily got to his feet. He was about to say something sarcastic when he looked down at Cloud's petite, yet muscular body sprawled on the couch, boneless and satisfied. His eyes were drawn to the splattering of fluids on his stomach, and then the thick white drizzle from between his slim thighs, and then to the look of utter contentment on his pretty face.

The angel then smiled up at him. "Do you mind?"

"No," Sephiroth told him honestly. "…Can we pick up where we left off, later?"

Now there were two sets of squeaking coming from the nursery. Zack had woken someone else up. Cloud just sighed. "Someday."

A/N

1 – Thanks for all the great feedback regarding Sephiroth's delivery last chapter. It was quite an ordeal, was it not? It was definitely hard to write about, that's for sure.

2 – So the babies have made their Shin-Ra debut. Pretty soon Seph's gonna have to go back to work, and you know what that means – mannies! How WILL they all deal? Haha, I wish I could have the announcer from Dragonball Z read this paragraph so fucking badly.


	10. 2 Months

"Seph! They're sleeping!" Cloud cried from the other side of the bathroom door. "Fuck me!"

"Hell yeah! Just gimme one second," Sephiroth called, nearly slipping in the shower.

It had been approximately one month since they'd engaged in actual, real live, utterly satisfying, nail scratching, sweat dripping, hair pulling sex. A few hurried blowjobs and fleeting dry hump sessions had gotten them to this frantic point. For the past week especially, it seemed like any touching or physical contact whatsoever drove them wild with a desire that was not destined to ever be quenched.

Sephiroth was returning to work the next morning. The thought of him being gone all day, maybe even nights, maybe even for weeks terrified Cloud. He'd gotten used to their routines, and their simple little life... but he knew it had to end, and he had to be strong about it. And in an effort to stay away from the subject and not be reduced to tears, he focused on the boys.

Earlier that evening, Cloud had been changing Zacky's diaper, while Sephiroth was finishing up on Lucas'. They stood side by side in sweat pants and t-shirts, and had barely spoken a word the entire day that wasn't in a high frequency baby talk.

"You boys are making a whole lotta stinky, smelly dookies lately!" Cloud chirped shrilly, pausing to press kisses on the soles of Zacky's flailing feet and make the baby gurgle happily. "Smelly dookies from Zacky!"

"Baby shit is concentrated evil," Sephiroth agreed in his own version of baby talk, refusing to let the word 'dookie' pass his lips no matter how high he forced his voice to climb.

"Powder please?" Cloud asked, and reached out for it with one hand. As Sephiroth passed the container, the tips of their fingers touched... and it was nothing short of electricity.

They paused and stared at each other for several seconds. When Cloud finally spoke his voice had sunk down into a smoldering octave, burning with enough intensity to startle the General, "... Hello."

"Hello ..." He rumbled back, admiring the contrast of Cloud's yellow hair framing his handsome face. He loved everything about that face; perfect lips, that fine bone structure, and those arresting blue eyes. Lately Cloud had been spending any free time reading or napping out by their pool, and the sun had kissed him all over. It left Cloud with a charming, permanent blush to his cheeks... Sephiroth wanted to follow that example and run his tongue up into all the places the sun hadn't been able to reach, and make his cheeks blush even more intensely.

With a hitched breath, Sephiroth's fingers busily tucked Lucas into his diaper to keep them from grabbing Cloud and pulling him to bed by his beautiful blonde hair.

"Look at me, Sephiroth," Cloud almost whispered, his hungry gaze darkening into something nearly sinister.

His eyes slowly turned back to Cloud's and were trapped by the desire he found there. "... Tell me what you need."

"I need us," Cloud's nimble fingers tucked into the waist of Sephiroth's sweatpants and pulled him closer to bump their bodies together. "I know you have things on your mind. I know you have to go back to work, but... Please don't forget about me. You own me. Don't let me forget it, eith- "

Without another word they shared a scorching kiss right there in the nursery. It escalated out of nowhere like heat lightning, and Sephiroth pulled Cloud up into his arms by the backs of his thighs. Body to body, they couldn't fathom letting go until they were completely satisfied. It could take forever with the way Cloud's body wriggled in his arms.

"God," Sephiroth snarled, one hand going up to hold Cloud's skull in place as he ravenously consumed his lips. Cloud could feel his heart racing, making every single point on his body pulse from his temples, to his wrists, to his cock. He nuzzled it against Sephiroth's firm stomach, trembling as his mind swam with visions of what they would do to each other.

It was about that time that Zacky decided he didn't appreciate his diaper change being interrupted.

His piss had amazingly accurate aim, but fortunately the source was too small to reach high enough to make a head shot. But Sephiroth's sleeve and his illustrious hair did not escape from being soaked.

Cloud swooped down out of Sephiroth's arms to fold over Zacky's diaper in an attempt to catch the baby's stream, but the damage was done. Although he was incredibly frustrated, his touch was gentle and his words still came out at a sweet and cooing octave, "That's gross, Zacky! Don't peepee without your diaper on!"

Zacky made no further comment.

Sephiroth took a fresh diaper and used it to wipe his arm, and slowly began to laugh from the ridiculousness of it all. What else could he do? He was unbearably erect and covered in baby pee. He glanced down to see Lucas on the changing table, staring up at him with a rare, lopsided smile.

"It's not that funny," He said with a sigh, and tossed the diaper into their canister. "Can you put Lucas in bed? I'm gonna go grab a shower."

"... Sorry," Cloud giggled. And so Sephiroth showered, and anticipated Cloud forcing him to get a good night's sleep.

But now the game had entirely changed! The stupid babies were the ones asleep! And Cloud was waiting to get pounded!

Sephiroth toweled off faster at the delicious thought of it, and was unable to resist pumping his cock a few times as he looked at himself in the mirror. His body looked good. Not perfect, but good.

Sephiroth felt urgency course through his veins, but since he had the looking good part down, he wanted to smell and taste good as well. He gave himself a quick blast of cologne, and then hurriedly brushed his teeth. There was nothing that could be easily done about his damp, tangled hair, so he threw it over one shoulder and emerged naked from the bathroom like a predator, expecting to find Cloud waiting, ready and splayed in some provocative position.

He was splayed, alright. During the three minutes that he'd been left waiting, Cloud fallen asleep in the starfish position wearing only his t-shirt and one sock.

"... Cloud?" Sephiroth bent over to push the shaggy bangs out of Cloud's face and was greeted with a deep snore. Utterly passed out. His boyish features weren't lifted and twisted with sexual need, but were instead soft and relaxed enough to resemble an angel at rest.

Sephiroth sighed and let Cloud's hair bounce back into place, not even having the heart to wake him and move him underneath the covers.

Unfulfilled, Sephiroth harnessed his sexual energy into cleaning the apartment. He gathered up the dishes, collected stray bits of baby laundry for a load in the washer, and cleared any clutter into a trash bag. Sephiroth then remembered the bag of dirty diapers that needed to be taken out as well. He quietly entered the nursery to retrieve it, and saw that while three of the boys were sleeping, Tommy was still wide awake.

Cloud had picked out a different bedding theme for each baby, complete with a musical mobile hanging over each crib. Zacky slept amongst stars, astronauts and spaceships; Jamie had a cutesy Pooh-bear theme; and Lucas had chunky planes, trains and automobiles of all types.

Tommy was given happy jungle animals as his totem, and was staring up at the mobile of baby elephants, monkeys, lion cubs and alligators. Sephiroth crept forward and leaned on the edge of his crib. With a couple of quiet turns of the dial, the mobile's gentle tune wafted out and it began to rotate slowly.

Tommy became hypnotized by the display. Sephiroth brushed his fingertips over his son's miniature hand, and felt a secret surge of satisfaction when Tommy grabbed on. He held Sephiroth's finger and watched the mobile until his eyes couldn't stay open any longer. His grip only loosened slightly as his breathing became slow and steady.

The babies were now two months old, and it was time for him to resume his duties as General of the Shin-Ra army... and he couldn't pinpoint exactly how that made him feel.

Back to days full of military duty, training, fighting, and leading an army. That was what he needed most in his life, right down to the cellular level. It was what he was designed for. Not changing shitty diapers, dealing with fussy feedings, or calming squealing brats… not kissing petal soft skin, or inspiring those drooly baby smiles, or seeing them learn something new everyday.

He'd been with them every moment of their lives for the past eight weeks, but that was such an incredibly short length of time in hindsight. It occurred to Sephiroth that he'd been with them even longer than that. Since the very first moment that this awkward universe decided that these children needed to exist, Sephiroth had been close to them. Repelled and disgusted by the thought of them, of course... but close to them nonetheless.

He supposed he was experiencing some mild separation anxiety. He puffed out a breath of air until the little monkey hanging over Tommy's crib swayed in the breeze.

There was no financial reason to return to his duties. He had enough money to take care of his family for the rest of their lives. Sephiroth indulged in a brief fantasy in which he swiftly resigned from his position at Shin-Ra. He paid off their new apartment, put a sizable trust fund away for the boys and lived his life comfortably with Cloud as a… daddy.

And when the babies grew, he could pursue other interests. Sephiroth didn't even have any hobbies outside the combat realm, but he could find some. They could travel or something. Or Cloud would be able to go back to SOLDIER if he wanted... or the two of them could create even more beings to take care of.

No fucking way was he giving birth again. He was a machine, but not that kind of machine.

He took his finger back from Tommy and retrieved the smelly diaper bag before he had anymore stupid, sentimental fantasies. He'd see the babies every morning and night. Unless he was away of course, in which case Cloud would document any developments with the camera.

They'd be fine without him.

After dropping the trash down the rubbish chute in the hallway, Sephiroth was satisfied with the cleanliness of the apartment. But satisfaction derived from a task completed was nothing compared to the satisfaction he craved from Cloud. Sephiroth could almost taste him.

For the first time in recent history, he considered pulling up some dirty videos he and Cloud had made together and rubbing one out. They weren't too explicit and mostly contained talking and giggling and other amateur silliness, but Cloud was fantastic on camera. He never hammed it up, but he always seemed to find a way to make each video memorable and utterly un-deletable. They were moments that Sephiroth enjoyed reliving when Cloud was away on missions to get through rough patches of temptation or loneliness.

But Sephiroth couldn't masturbate and pine for his lover who was merely a room away. It was beyond pathetic.

Determined to reignite their passion, he stomped back to the bedroom where Cloud was still in the same ridiculous sleeping position. Sephiroth nimbly yanked off Cloud's sock, but was more tender in helping to slide his shirt off of him. With a little adjusting and several groans of protest, he and Cloud were under the covers together.

"Cuddle me!" Cloud demanded on an impatient whine, urging Sephiroth closer with a sharp tug on his wrist. Sephiroth was happy to scoot in close behind Cloud and hold him tight. Once their limbs were locked in a familiar way, Cloud sighed. "Don't let me go 'til I'm sleeping again..."

... He was so not getting laid. Sephiroth was disappointed and already uncomfortable laying on his side, but Cloud was warm and his bare skin felt like silk under the covers. He'd take what he could get.

With a resigned sigh, he put his nose in Cloud's yellow hair and waited for him to return to slumber. It was counter productive, but Sephiroth spoke in the dark, "Will you miss me tomorrow?"

"No. I'm so fucking sick of you," Cloud claimed, despite backing up closer to absorb Sephiroth's warmth.

Sephiroth smirked. "Good. I'm fucking sick of you, too."

"Your tummy's flat and hard again!" Cloud complained moodily. "You're more comfortable when you're fat."

"I can't do my job if I'm fat," Sephiroth retorted. "Maybe you'll get fat staying home and sitting on your ass?"

"I lost five pounds..." Cloud murmured, and the sad tone made Sephiroth feel guilty for teasing him. Weight was always a sore subject with Cloud, who had to fight for every ounce of muscle he ever gained. Such a loss in weight just meant that he was losing that muscle.

"You'll get time to train. We'll get some protein in the house. You won't lose another pound," Sephiroth promised.

"Feeling skinny makes me feel ugly."

"Cloud, you are drop dead gorgeous. You aren't skinny at all. You're my little powerhouse SOLDIER..." Sephiroth pressed his groin against Cloud's ass. "... And you're so nice and juicy right here."

Cloud was silent and still for a moment, until he took the bait. "... Really?"

Jackpot. "Uh huh... When I fuck you from behind, it bounces just a little. And I love the way it moves when I slap it."

"You're a dirty man!" Cloud gave a sleepy imitation of a giggle.

"Give me some of this fat ass ..." Sephiroth purred against his ear, and nestled the length of his growing arousal between Cloud's warm, smooth cheeks. It was a perfect fit.

Cloud seemed torn for a moment before he exhaled helplessly, "I can't, Seph."

"Are you sure? You seemed ready a little while ago..." Sephiroth hissed into his ear, oozing seduction as he slid his hand over Cloud's hip to search for that hard cock that had been grinding against him in the nursery. Sephiroth wanted it down his throat.

"I still want you Seph... but Tommy wouldn't sleep at all today, he was so wired for some reason. And last night you had the earplugs, but Jamie was a little poopoo machine and I didn't want him to make a big dookie in his sleep and get a diaper rash so I waited around for him to - "

"Enough," He abruptly cut Cloud off. It was probably the most difficult thing he'd ever done, but Sephiroth settled his hands in a chaste location and stilled the teasing movements of his hips. "Stop talking about baby shit and go to sleep."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Furious," Sephiroth mumbled, and kissed Cloud's ear. He let his lips linger just a moment, leaving a warm imprint of his affection. "Put some earplugs in tonight and rest."

"I love you," Cloud said, and sat up to stuff the plugs in his ears before resuming his position curled in front of Sephiroth.

When he promised to hold Cloud until he was asleep, Sephiroth didn't count on being the one to drift off first.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth closed his eyes under the hot shower water, trying to block out the needless worry.

The actual morning of his first day back at work had greeted him with soul deep dread. Perhaps it was just because it was finally happening, but a million awful scenarios were rampaging through his head.

If any terrorist, enemy government, or obsessed whack job brought harm to his mutant children while he wasn't there to protect them ... Sephiroth would never forgive himself. The next best thing was to have a highly trained SOLDIER there with them, to watch for warning signs, to get them out if there was an emergency, and to take a fucking bullet if the need arose.

The mannies were coming to help with the babies - diaper changing, feeding, cleaning, etc. The SOLDIERs would perform these duties without complaint. But the prior week, Sephiroth had taken initiative to call each man personally, and let them know that if any harm befell Cloud or any one of those strange little creatures that they'd made together ... Sephiroth would pull a blitzkrieg unlike anything they'd ever seen before.

And the mannies knew Sephiroth was a man of his word. Only one of them stepped down from the duty out of intimidation, but the rest were prepared to die for the survival of Sephiroth's offspring. Or as punishment for failing to protect them. And then there was the matter of Sephiroth drinking the blood of their loved ones, but that was mostly just bull. Mostly.

When Sephiroth came out of the bathroom, the bed was made and his black leather uniform had been laid out for him. He dressed slowly, looking at himself extensively in the mirror and making mental notes of where the uniform felt tightest, and where tiny muffins of flesh spilled over. He hadn't lost all the baby weight yet, but he was getting there. He pulled on his coat, sucked his stomach in, and left the room.

Sephiroth peeked into the nursery and found four deeply slumbering babies. Any other morning he would have been thrilled that the boys were still sleeping so quietly, but he wouldn't have the chance to see them for another thirteen hours. He found himself wrestling with the temptation to turn the lights on and jostle them all awake, or to let them slumber and perhaps have a quickie with Cloud before work.

He felt his heart pulled in two directions, and in the end he decided to be selfish. He scooped up the nearest one, which happened to be Jamie. The infant shifted in his arms, a tiny whining noise gurgling in his throat. Sephiroth patted his back, "Sorry, buddy. Just go with it."

Cloud was in the kitchen preparing bottles on the stove. His back straightened when he saw Sephiroth gracing the kitchen in full uniform. "Morning handsome! Did he wake up already?"

"Yeah," Sephiroth lied, bouncing Jamie as he began to vocalize his displeasure, as though he was attempting to tell Cloud the truth about being woken up on purpose.

"Oh such a grumpy little man," Cloud crooned to the infant, craning his neck out to kiss his scowling little face. He then smiled up at Sephiroth, going up on his tiptoes to give him a much more intimate, lingering kiss. "... You look very sexy this morning, General."

"You passed on this last night," He reminded him. He secured Jamie in one arm and used the other to pull Cloud closer and kiss him thoroughly, letting his tongue dance against Cloud's in an expression of all the things he wanted to do to him the night prior. Cloud put a tiny moan into the kiss, letting one hand slide down Sephiroth's hip and dig into the flesh appreciatively.

He pulled back, and his expression was uncertain. "I'm so, so sorry about that. I hit the bed and I was like, totally out. I wanted to ... I still want to..."

"I'm not in the mood," Sephiroth sighed demurely, letting his eyes roll around the room before landing back on Cloud and narrowing in humor.

"I won't ever pass again!" Cloud purred, and his wet lips spread in a lopsided smile. It looked oddly familiar. Then Sephiroth realized that when grumpy little Lucas could be convinced to smile... it virtually mirrored Cloud's. He'd never noticed until then, and it made him pull Cloud in for another dose of those smiling lips against his own.

"Can I get that in writing?" Sephiroth grinned when they came apart, bouncing Jamie slightly.

"I'll do a line of coke tonight if I have to," Cloud declared, and brushed his finger over Jaime's nose. "Put that brat down, you need to finish getting ready and eat your breakfast. You have a big day! Let me make you something yummy! How about some waffles?"

"I'm on a diet, don't tempt me," Sephiroth went to the cabinet where his health food stash was located. Meal bars were all he was eating at that point in his haste to return to peak physical condition.

"Okay, no waffles," Cloud turned to the stove to rotate the bottles again before he went to the fridge. "But please have something more than a protein bar."

"I'm sure I've got desk work today, it'll be plenty."

"You've got a longer day ahead of you than you think, and you're gonna feel like shit by lunchtime. Take a bar for a snack later, but let me make you some eggs and fruit," Cloud insisted as he began preparing the light meal.

Sephiroth decided not to push the issue, and would eat what Cloud gave him. It was likely that he would be sparring that morning, so he'd make the energy input and output balance. He knew Cloud liked a little extra flesh to grab on to, but he just wanted to feel like himself again. Like lean, mean General Sephiroth again.

Sephiroth was born and bred to be a killer with no feelings, no heart, no compassion. Sephiroth then looked at the infant in his arms and wondered if he even knew who that person was anymore.

There was a chorus of whimpering from the nursery Cloud tsked, "Will you bring them out for me?"

Sephiroth laid Jamie in one of the four highchairs, which were designed to hold an infant with comfort. It was yet another transforming piece of baby furniture that would morph into something more appropriate when the boys began to grow and would be able to sit up on their own. It was Cloud's department to think to purchase these things, because Sephiroth never would have even conceived that such a thing existed.

Another genius invention that he couldn't imagine doing without was the baby sling. He'd been embarrassed of it at first, but it quickly became vital. Sephiroth snatched it off the kitchen counter and brought it into the nursery. Tommy stopped crying when Sephiroth appeared; he never seemed to be one to make noise unless he needed to. Lucas wasn't so considerate, and screeched even after Sephiroth tucked him into the sling. Zacky was shaking his hands and bopping his feet around already, making full use of his limited motor skills.

He took the three to the kitchen and strapped them into their chairs, making a complete set of hungry quints who looked expectantly at their fathers. Sephiroth reached for a bottle to check the temperature, but Cloud took it from him. "You don't have time, finish getting ready."

Sephiroth felt his heart sink. He didn't let it show on his face, but Cloud tilted his head and searched his eyes for a moment before handing the bottle back. "You get to do Zacky, then."

He was the hardest baby to feed, by far, but Sephiroth plucked Zacky up and folded him into the sling, careful that the babies' kicking feet didn't get tangled in the material. Sephiroth then pushed the bottle into his mouth, already reaching for a nursing towel to catch the dribbly, spitty liquid that pooled from the corners of his lips. The baby needed to be fed two bottles in a row, only because he spat up more formula than he swallowed.

"It's okay, pal. Keep trying," Sephiroth murmured encouraging words, despite the fact that Zacky was making a mess of them both. The baby was hungry and uncoordinated, so there was no use in getting upset about his inability to eat properly. Aerith had assured that he would grow out of it.

Sephiroth let Zack eat, and took time to smell the soft, unique scent of his wispy platinum hair. It felt almost bristly under his lips. Sephiroth supposed Zack might have inherited Cloud's unique hair texture, and he mentally wished the poor child luck with that bullshit.

They were almost ready to start the second bottle when there came a knock at the door. Cloud moved to answer it with Lucas in his arms, but Sephiroth stopped him. "I'll get it."

He quickly secured Zacky back into his chair before marching to the door. He almost wished he'd taken Cloud's advice to finish getting ready, as he didn't exactly looking imposing in bare feet, ribbons of milky baby drool all over his coat, and a blue towel with puppies on it resting on his shoulder. He snatched the nursing towel off, wiped himself as best he could and tossed it aside.

He yanked the door open with a cutting expression directed at whoever stood on the other side.

A second class SOLDIER named Jude Mitchell stood at attention in civilian clothes. "Reporting for duty, Sir!"

Jude was about Cloud's height, possessed a very strong build crowned by a boyish face. Sephiroth slowly dissected everything about him. His freshly washed and gelled hair, his well fitted t-shirt, his slightly loose, yet fashionable jeans, his slip on canvas sneakers, his dogtags ...

Sephiroth found him attractive. Cloud would find him attractive. And the two would be alone all day playing house with his children.

"... SOLDIER," Sephiroth greeted coldly.

"Sir! I brought donuts. I gathered intelligence that confirmed you prefer chocolate filling," Jude held up a bag of delicious confections that totaled roughly one million calories. Sephiroth hated him already.

"Jude, you're a little early!" Cloud called, peeking out under Sephiroth's arm. "Did you find the place alright?"

"Yeah!" He answered, relaxing a little as Cloud appeared. "I gave myself time to find it, but it was pretty easy. I hope you don't mind that I'm here already."

"No, no, we're glad to see you! Just excuse the sweatpants," Cloud reached past Sephiroth and pulling the manny by the elbow to the kitchen. "Come meet our boys!"

Sephiroth watched from afar as Jude was introduced to each child. He made the appropriate ooh's and ahh's, and touched each child on their soft, chubby faces and hands. Cloud pulled Tommy up, the most easiest to hold of all the babies, and settled him into Jude's arms. And like a fickle little traitor, Tommy snuggled against him and even allowed the slimy bastard to start feeding him.

Cloud was well aware of Sephiroth's sudden mood swing, and patted Jude's back. "Will you be alright for a second? Seph just needs some help finding his boots."

"Yeah, we're all fine in here," Jude smiled, consumed with the novel task of feeding an infant.

"Be right back!" Cloud said jovially, but his expression turned to helpless worry as he pulled Sephiroth far into the living room. The shades were already drawn and the sun was flirting with the horizon, creating rosy light. "What is it? Do you not want to go today? You don't have to go today if you're not ready..."

"I have a bad feeling about him," Sephiroth whispered.

"Why?" Cloud pleaded almost silently, his arms folding around Sephiroth's waist. "He's a good person. Flawless record - he's even up for first class promotion in a couple months. Amazing fighter. Loves kids - "

"What a catch," Sephiroth scoffed. "Bet you won't be too tired to get fucked by him."

Cloud froze, utterly baffled. "... I'm gonna give you a chance to retract that statement and apologize to me. Before I get very fucking Nibelheim up in here."

Sephiroth hissed. "Why is he so hot, huh? He's a fucking supermodel. The other ones looked like average dudes."

"You said the other ones were too burly!" Cloud whispered shrilly. "I purposely added a few guys to the roster from my own unit, guys that looked a little more like me to make you happier! Do you honestly think that appearance factored into my decision over who helped me look after our kids? Besides, he's completely straight!"

"Oh bullshit. Like there's a man on Earth who wouldn't go gay for you, Cloud Strife."

Cloud rubbed the bridge of his nose. "... Seph ... You're being irrational. And frankly, a little bit stupid."

Sephiroth was nearly seething. "I don't want them to like him too much. And I don't want you to like him too much."

"I love you," Cloud murmured. "And they love you."

"Hardly," Sephiroth scowled. "They tolerate me because I feed them."

Cloud was schooled in how to handle Sephiroth when he was this way. He let the comments slide off his back and did his best to react with kindness, "How about this? Today at work, go pick up some surveillance cameras from the tech department. Tonight we'll set some nanny cams up and you'll be able to make sure that the mannies are behaving. That's totally normal for a parent to do. You can tune in and watch anytime you want."

"Okay," Sephiroth wouldn't admit how much he liked that idea. It instantly calmed him.

Cloud sensed the relief in his lover's demeanor and hugged him closer. "I'm still a little hurt that you think I'd ever go for someone else. In front of our kids, no less? You are all I want, and all I'll ever need. Don't you trust me?"

"I do trust you," Sephiroth admitted, and desperately tried to regain his composure. "I'm sorry for the outburst. I'm just... a little bit of a mess right now. I'm sorry. Really."

"Talk to me," Cloud murmured, clasping his hands on the other side of Sephiroth's back.

"I want to go back. I need to work. But I also wish..." Sephiroth quickly stopped himself. "Just give me a couple days to get used to this new routine. I'll be fine."

"Everything will be fine," Cloud agreed, smoothing his hands down his lover's back. "... I love our communication these days. A spat like this would have lasted weeks before our boys came along."

"I think we're just too tired to play angry couple games."

"We mastered those games," Cloud's hands tightened into his leather. "I think I like this better, though. A lot better."

Sephiroth leaned down to touch his nose to Cloud's, when a pleasant smell brought both of their heads up. They went back to the kitchen and found that not only did Jude have Tommy in the sling and eating comfortably, he was also preparing their eggs for the morning.

Jude glanced up, "Sirs! I saw the eggs and butter on the counter, I thought I'd help. My dad owns this little breakfast and lunch place out near the Canyon? Mostly just a trucker pit stop, really. He taught me everything about - well, uh, anyways. Hope you like them scrambled, General?"

Feeling more at ease, and frankly sort of appreciative of a sexy guy in his home cooking for him, Sephiroth nodded his approval. "Thank you very much, Mitchell."

Jude's eyes filled with wonder, and he ducked his head shyly. "Sir!"

Sephiroth ate his breakfast quickly while Cloud gave Jude a brief tour of their home. The final minutes ticked away, and the sun crawled it's way up past the horizon until it was time for him to leave. Sephiroth looked towards the nursery, listening closely to ensure that the other men were busy and would not be coming back anytime soon.

Once privacy was confirmed, Sephiroth crouched down to hug each baby and lay a generous amount of gentle kisses on top of their soft, feathery heads.

"Bye guys," He told them once each boy had gotten smothered in affection. Four sets of bright eyes stared back. Sephiroth almost expected one of them to pipe up and suggest he take another few weeks off. Maybe a few years. Maybe forever.

But the only actual response was Lucas spitting up down the front of his tiny shirt. Sephiroth reluctantly left his babies in the kitchen to poke his head into the nursery, where Cloud was showing the new manny where all the different baby care supplies were stored.

"I should be going," Sephiroth said. "Luke made a mess of himself, but I have to leave you with it."

"It's bath time, anyways," Cloud smiled, coming forward to pull his lover to the door.

"Call me if there are any problems."

"Okay," Cloud walked with Sephiroth to the door, while Jude went into the kitchen to unstrap the boys one by one for their morning baths. Once they were away from the manny, Cloud tucked himself into Sephiroth's arms. "... I'll miss you all day."

"I'll leave work at six," Sephiroth said calmly, still trying to prepare himself mentally for the rapidly approaching moment when he had to let Cloud go and walk away from the apartment. "... I'll be home quarter after."

"I know. I'll have some dinner ready for you," Cloud's handsome, young face lit up with the most gorgeous grin at that prospect. "I sound like such a little housewife!"

"You're not a housewife, and you're not little. You're a SOLDIER. You're strong, capable, and you're the father of my... little weirdos. Take care of them," Sephiroth kissed his cheek. "I love you."

Cloud closed his eyes, and when they opened there was hunger there. "I love you, too."

Sephiroth tightened his hands on Cloud's hips, and his long fingers stretched to dig into the curve of Cloud's ass through his sweatpants. "I don't care how tired you are tonight. I'm wrecking this thing one way or another."

Cloud bit his lower lip, and playfully pushed Sephiroth out into the hallway. He didn't speak, but the tilt of his hips and the devilish smile on his face said it all. He then took a step back into their apartment and gently shut the door.

Sephiroth put his hands in his coat pockets, unable to wipe the smile off of his face the whole ride to work.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"General!" His secretary gushed, nearly leaping out of her chair when she saw him turn the corner.

He was a few minutes late in finding the new office. It was tucked away on the accounting floor, which was notorious for going millions of gil over budget by the self-indulgent people who ran it. With looming cathedral ceilings, stained glass, marble floors and ancient statues lining the halls, Sephiroth had actually been a little bit intimidated in approaching his own office.

He didn't need all this. Not at all. It disgusted him to think a floor like this really existed in the Shin-Ra building. It felt more like a museum than a place to work.

"Good morning," He answered, relieved to see a familiar face in this decadent setting. "How have you been, Shelly?"

"Awesome! ... I hope you don't mind, but I already peeked inside..." She admitted, grinning wildly as she opened the massive iron door to his new office for him. "How are the little ones?"

"They're disgusting," He answered politely, and tried to keep his face neutral as he walked inside.

The President had been beside himself when Sephiroth had announced his leave, unsure if he was ever going to return. Since Hojo had washed his hands of the entire Promised Land project after Sephiroth's difficulties in Nibelheim, President Shin-Ra felt lost. He had walked on pins and needles around the supernaturally enhanced SOLDIERs without the security of having a medical leash on them. Especially General Sephiroth. He was living proof that the Shin-Ra Electric Company was guilty of child abuse, child labor, conspiracy, embezzlement, unlawful imprisonment, genocide, illegal human experimentation, and every single type of war crime imaginable ...

If there was one person Oprah would come out of retirement to listen to, it was General Sephiroth. He could ruin Shin-Ra in a single half hour interview.

In his fervor to secure Sephiroth's employment at the company, and to maintain his control on his mighty physical power and enormous political influence, he'd constructed a brand new office for him. It was kind of fun to see the President scurrying, but actually walking into the place, Sephiroth almost regretted it.

All of his things had been transferred and organized, but everything else was stylish and ornate. The floors were glistening black marble, the sitting area was utterly posh with spotless white couches it's own little modern chandelier hanging over it, the bookcases were detailed with ancient Wutain carvings, the desk was polished obsidian ...

Sephiroth snorted, unable to fathom how he'd get any work done in an atmosphere more suited to a 18th century palace. "This place is absolutely grotesque."

"I know!" The secretary agreed. "Have you seen my new shit? We got totally upgraded, it's unbelievable!"

He turned in a slow circle to appreciate the place. He then noticed a door. "Where does that go?"

"Check it out," She grinned.

He had a hunch of what it might be, but opened it without expectations for fear of letting himself down. But when he found that he had his own bathroom complete with a sauna, hot tub, showers and a massage table. "... I could cry right now."

"I know!" She gasped. "And we have a new espresso station, and a direct line to the cafeteria, and a there's even a panic room! It's so fucking legit!"

"Well," He declared, straightening his back and turning off his bathroom light. "I'm certain we have a huge mountain of work to get to, so go to your battle station."

"Yes, Sir!" She agreed gleefully, and closed his door behind her.

Once he was alone, and let out one good, but brief spin on the ball of his foot. A little bit of luxe went a long way, but this? This was disgusting in the most beautiful way. He didn't know if he loved it or hated it yet, but was leaning toward the latter.

He settled into his new chair and booted up his computer, still finding little touches here and there, right down to a bowl of gourmet candy. His mouth watered for chocolate and he was glad his phone rang to provide a distraction from temptation. He took a moment to examine the new system before pushing a button to answer through speaker phone. "Yes?"

"Oh! General Sephiroth! You did come in today, after all!" The President's voice filled the air until Sephiroth picked up the receiver.

"Yes Sir."

"I'm positive the new work space is to your liking?" He inferred, smug in the knowledge that he had properly spoiled his Silver General.

"I suppose it'll do," Sephiroth replied with a demure sigh, expertly holding back any hint of sarcasm. "It seems a little more fitting for a General who's made you billions - if not trillions - for you every single year of his employment."

"... You are a very valuable member of my staff, General Sephiroth," The President's voice was already shaking with rage.

"The most valuable," Sephiroth corrected, spinning idly in his new chair. "But General Hewley and General Rhapsodos have been with me every step of the way, and deserve equal share of credit for our successes. With everything that they've contributed to this company, don't you think having them sit in a stock office on the Executive floor is a bit ... Tacky?"

"Are you suggesting they have offices on your new floor?"

"How are we all supposed to communicate with me up here and them down there? It's not practical."

"Your suggestion will be considered," The President growled.

"Consider it a demand, then. I want my fellow Generals up here... within the week. Relocate everyone else on this floor. We'll need the whole thing."

"The whole floor?" The President shouted.

Sephiroth nearly quaked with pleasure. Himself and the other Generals had always dreamed of having a place to hide. Now they'd have a whole fucking floor to themselves. No fat, self serving executives allowed. "Of course. We need office space, We'll need room for our meeting and strategizing, and a sufficient break area. And our poor, overworked secretaries really should have a spa - I heard the media department gets their own spa. But we'll need most of the floor to accommodate a training gym."

"I just built you your own goddamn gym on floor 40! I bet you haven't even set foot in it, yet!"

"But that's not very handy, considering my new office is all the way up here on the new General's floor. I'm assuming it's not too much of a hassle to just move it up here."

"... Sephiroth, you're being a little bit picky." The President gritted, and 'picky' came out sounding a lot like 'cunty'.

"You're being a little bit cheap. If my needs aren't met... I won't be able to do my job properly," Sephiroth smiled, spinning his chair in the opposite direction. "You probably are aware that I have four new additions to my family, and I would relish an early retirement to stay at home with them. I could easily just liquidate every last gil of my assets and stocks in this company and walk. I'm sure your money would be enough to give my boys a decent college education... and their children, and their children's children, and their children's childr - "

"You know I need you, Sephiroth," The President interrupted harshly. "Your demands will be met."

"By Friday."

"... As soon as possible," He shouted. "But you have my word the arrangements will be set in motion immediately."

"Thanks. And speaking of my kids, they'll be in need of a place where they can visit their daddies at work . Cloud's still on the reserve, you know. So leave ample space for a playground up here... I want you to find them a real, antique pirate ship and have it brought to code and customized. With a slide. And four swings. And space inside for them to nap and store toys. And create an aquarium with the scariest, craziest looking fish you can find - and definitely a shark! And a big sandbox. And make sure to attach it to the new gym so Cloud and I can watch them play while we train. I'm sure if you start planning the construction now, it'll be ready for them by the time they're able to walk."

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?"

"They're simple demands, President."

"I expect this to shut you the fuck up forever, Sephiroth," The President roared. "I don't want to hear another goddamn complaint out of you, not until the day I die!"

"You got it, boss. Oh, and could you please remove all of the garish statues on this floor by noon? I don't want them to be there the next time I leave my office," Sephiroth chuckled, and hung up. He wiggled his fingers, feeling adrenaline coursing through his body.

Sephiroth had the power and Shin-Ra had the money. Sephiroth wanted Angeal and Genesis to have the facilities of their dreams. Sephiroth wanted Cloud to have a place to train, and feel comfortable bringing the boys. And he wanted the boys to have... a shark.

Well, the shark was actually for him. There was no harm in indulging in a few childhood dreams of his own.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Over the course of the two months that he was away from work, Sephiroth had accumulated over 4,000 emails, had been opted out of 73 missions, had missed 27 meetings, and had neglected the troops of his presence for an estimated 300 hours.

Every email had to be answered. Every mission report had to be read and understood to the smallest detail. Every meeting summary had to be looked at. And he had to make up time with the men and ensure they were fit for the army.

Sephiroth felt like quitting.

In four hours, he managed to hack his way through half of the emails. As it turned out, a good portion of them were 'Get Well Soon' and 'We Miss You' type messages upon the announcement of his personal leave. Then upon news of the boys they turned to 'Congratulations on your little ones!' messages.

He took the time to glance at each one, and composed one massive letter of thanks to all the people who took time to think about him on such a personal level. He explained Aerith's fake story about the creation of he and Cloud's test tube children, and even proudly included a picture of the brats for all to behold.

Once that was done, he took his lunch and was extremely tempted to call Cloud. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he needed to call.

"Hello?" Cloud answered, his voice slightly strained.

"How are things?" Sephiroth replied, chewing on his meal bar.

"Jamie made a biiiig, stinky dookie. And he keeps wanting to hold my hand with his tail, it's so fucking cute and annoying at the same time," Cloud sighed a little bit, gently chastising the baby for being so squirmy. "Luke is sleeping but his diaper is most definitely next. I'm gonna call Aerith later because all of their shit is still smelling like toxic waste and it's freaking me out. But Tom and Zack are in the rocky swings. Jude's washing out the baby bath tubs, they're gonna get another one after they eat again."

Cloud was speaking a new language, but it was one that Sephiroth was well acquainted with. "Want me to talk to Aerith about the shit? I'm going to see her in a little while."

"Yeah, okay. I miss you," Cloud cooed. "I think Jamie misses you, too. Do you miss your daddy, Jamie? Wanna talk to your daddy?"

"No please - "

"Say something to your son!" Cloud cried, sounding far away.

There was a silence that Sephiroth could only assume was Cloud putting the receiver next to Jamie's tiny ear. He rolled his eyes. "... Hi Jamie. Try to make all your dookies while I'm at work. And make sure you guys go to sleep early, because your daddies need some time to play. Spread the word to your brothers... I miss you."

The moment Sephiroth began talking, Cloud held Jamie close to listen to whatever he had to say. He smiled, waiting until Sephiroth was done, and let a pause roll by before responding. "... He heard you."

"Bullshit."

"We were both listening," Cloud resumed diapering the little boy. "How's the office?"

"Ugly," Sephiroth lied. "I'll tell you about it when I get home."

"Can't wait," Cloud said, and the sounds of him shaking powder onto Jamie's butt could be clearly heard. "Have a good day and don't tire yourself out. Feel free to come home whenever you want. Like right now maybe?"

"I'm too important to leave now," Sephiroth told him with a smirk. "... But I'll be home soon. Love you."

Cloud still wasn't quite used to hearing these words come so readily from Sephiroth. He savored it until a strong odor hit his nose and caused him to physically recoil. "Dear God! I gotta go honey, Lucas needs a new diaper before the smoke alarms go off. Love you, too! Bye!"

Cloud kissed into the phone and left Sephiroth with a dial tone. He had a little check up with Aerith that afternoon, but decided to drop in sooner rather than later. He had been sitting all morning and frankly needed to look at something other than a computer screen.

He was a little startled when he walked out of the office and was confronted with absolute chaos. The once tranquil, cathedral-like atmosphere of the floor was now bustling with angry looking accountants carrying boxes out of their offices, and construction workers pacing to and fro, busily making plans.

Sephiroth couldn't contain a grin when he noticed that every single statue had been removed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aerith's workspace in the Medical labs looked more like a greenhouse. She tried using natural means of cultivating medicine, and most of her funded experiments and research revolved around that. Sephiroth found her speaking to a small cluster of botany students, half of which resembled hippies. A young man with a fashionable afro and yellow tinted frames on his eyes stood a little straighter when Sephiroth entered the room, but the rest of the students remained cavalier and unimpressed with his militant presence.

"Hey, Sephiroth!" Aerith smiled, and continued draining a clear liquid from the stem of an exotic flower. "How are you today?"

"I'm perfectly fine. But the kids have an issue."

Aerith deduced that it was nothing serious from Sephiroth's calm tone, and so finished her extraction. She handed the full syringe to one of her assistants and gave some sort of order in their medical language. The students busied themselves and Aerith guided him to an evaluation room and shut the door.

"Before we talk about the babies, how are you feeling?" She asked. Like a female Mr. Rogers, she removed her gardening labcoat with another one for the purpose of doctoring. "Any discomfort? Any sort of oddness?"

"I'm tired, but that's just new parent stuff," Sephiroth admitted.

"I know it's the last thing you want to do, but can I take one more look underneath to make sure you're all healed up?"

Sephiroth refrained from rolling his eyes. He was spared from the view of his ass being blasted open by five huge eggs, but apparently Cloud and Aerith had been emotionally scarred for life. He supposed the damage was even worse to look at than to feel, and he certainly hadn't squatted over any mirrors to check it out. He wanted to put that horror behind him.

But for the sake of health, he removed his clothes and accepted a paper gown, and submitted to Aerith's gentle prodding.

"You're almost back to normal," She decided.

"Almost?" Sephiroth inquired. "It feels normal to me.'

"There are tissue scars," She clarified, taking off her gloves and covering Sephiroth up. "But I think that will fade with time."

Sephiroth didn't say anything else on the matter, and let Aerith check the rest of his stats. He was healthy.

"I want you to ask me questions if you need to," She said as Sephiroth put his clothes back on. "Anything."

Sephiroth wanted to dismiss the invitation, but there were several things he was wondering about himself that he didn't particularly want to ask in front of Cloud. It was rare to be able to talk to Aerith without Cloud around ... "The answers stay in this room?"

"Of course," She promised.

"I'm only asking this out of pure curiosity: Can I reproduce again?"

There was an odd expression on her face, and it immediately made Sephiroth regret asking. But she spoke professionally, "To be totally honest with you, I don't even know how you did it the first time. Rest assured that you are male, and your body does not produce eggs. Even the estrogen hormone in your system isn't at unnatural levels for a male. But the eggs were just spontaneously... there. And Cloud fertilized them at exactly the right moment. I have no idea if you'll ever do that again. But to give you a complete answer; your uterus is dormant at the present time."

"I prefer the term 'doobie', please."

Aerith smiled, "The doobie is dormant."

Sephiroth crossed his arms. "So let's say in some alternate reality... Cloud wants to fertilize me again. Nothing will happen?"

"You could consider yourself either lucky or unlucky that the very first time Cloud fertilized you, you two achieved reproduction. But with your mysterious anatomy, it's impossible to say if the eggs appeared because Cloud fertilized, or if they were there and Cloud's sperm responded naturally to their presence. The only way to tell is through experimentation, and I really don't think you want to have sex under a microscope to find out."

"You're right," Sephiroth agreed sternly.

"Based on what Jenova communicated to you in the reactor, I'm guessing she has the power to remotely influence your ability to produce eggs. But also based on her... inaccurate prediction... of how many children you would ultimately conceive, I'm guessing her control ends at the time of conception."

"You don't really have much of a life, do you?"

"I'm a student of the natural world," Aerith admitted. "Not to freak you out, but ... My life is pretty much centered around your reproductive system lately. I made fascinating discoveries studying the eggshells! And also from the remains of your daughter. I'm still so, so sorry about that."

"It's alright. She took after her daddy and got donated to science," Sephiroth shrugged. And when Aerith's face split into concern and horror, he had to chuckle. "I'm joking. Cloud sort of forced me to process all of it and ... I'm fine."

"She's being treated with dignity, I assure you," Aerith put her clipboard under her chin. "... Would you like to see?"

"Spare me that," Sephiroth grunted. He was still trying to erase the mental image of the thick fluid inside his unborn daughter's egg. He could vaguely remember parts, tiny clusters of tissue, but couldn't bear to explore the memory. He instead wanted to communicate another issue that he couldn't in front of Cloud. "When you've gotten all you can from studying her, I want her to rest with my mother. I think I'd feel at ease knowing she's close to her... Grandma."

Aerith seemed utterly affected by the request, and all but hugged Sephiroth. "Absolutely! I'll save a small sample, and the rest can be sent to Nibelheim. We can take it there personally if you want."

"I'd like that a lot. When can we go?"

"I'll look into my schedule, but certainly sometime this month would work for me. I'm sure you have a lot of things to catch up on, though..."

"I'll make time," Sephiroth then thought aloud. "Guess she'd be near both grandmas, technically."

"Zack kind of filled me in on that whole situation... So does Cloud's mother know, yet?" Aerith asked.

"No," He said bluntly. "Another question. Do you think there's a permanent solution to my ability to reproduce?"

"We could remove the doobie..." Aerith offered, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of digging around in Sephiroth's body.

He quickly shook his head, "I'd rather not go removing organs. God knows what else that might effect."

"It doesn't have to hinder your sexual expression," Aerith smiled, looking away with an unprofessional hint of shyness. "Just make Cloud wear a condom."

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows in a look of mock boredom, but was glad to have his unspoken question answered. Condoms were a little bit of a hassle, but they weren't so bad. Cloud might even get a kick out of it. He was lost in thought until he remembered his second purpose for being there. "Oh yeah, speaking of bullshit - the boys are crapping constantly. It's like mud and it smells like toxic waste."

Aerith frowned, "Sad tummies? What are you feeding them?"

"Same thing as always," Sephiroth shrugged.

"Oh, there's your problem. The premie formula is way too rich for them now," Aerith waved her hand dismissively. "Switch to regular baby formula right away. I should have thought to tell you guys, I'm sorry. Start feeding them that tonight, and they should feel much better in a day or two."

"Wait..." Sephiroth paused for a long while. "So... they're big enough for regular baby formula, now?"

"Weeks ago," She agreed, writing hurriedly. "But don't worry, I'm sure you didn't hurt them aside from a little discomfort. Are you still bringing them in next week for their checkups?"

Sephiroth was lost in though until he realized he'd been asked a question. "Oh... yeah. Cloud's bringing them in next Wednesday."

"Good! I'll make you guys a chart, so you know at which stages they should be eating which food," She chirped happily. "Before you know it they'll be ready for applesauce! I'll get back with you about the final arrangements for your little girl. Have a great day!"

Sephiroth picked himself up and shuffled out of the lab. Once he was in the elevator, he allowed himself to exhale. He'd managed to hold back tears from the entire session, at the mention of his dead child, at the fact that Cloud's mother didn't even know, at the reality that his mutants had grown so much already. The fact that they needed regular baby formula shouldn't have been such devastating news, but Sephiroth was imaging the day when they'd be eating puree food. Then normal food. And talking. And walking. Playing. Fighting. Expressing themselves.

And Sephiroth realized with dread that he wouldn't be there to see any of it. At least he could fix that much.

With a single tear streaming down his cheek, he repeatedly pressed the elevator floor button for the tech department. He was going to requisition an arsenal of covert monitoring equipment and enough digital memory to record those little mutants for years without stopping. He wanted everything on tape. First words, first steps, fights, failures, triumphs, everything. He would not miss a single important moment.

Maybe someday they could be shared with both grandmas.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sephiroth bought several things at the store on his way home.

The most important was the proper food to give his children. He stood in the aisle for several minutes, reading labels and comparing nutritional content before making his decision. He bought three cans of regular baby formula, and one for sensitive stomachs to ease the transition. He really was tired of changing shitty diapers.

The next item was a box of condoms to have on hand... just in case they did that ever again.

Eh, who was Sephiroth kidding? He loved it.

But according to the length and girth chart on the condom boxes, Cloud required a medium. Seven inches was only a medium? Sephiroth had to check it twice, because he could hardly believe that Cloud's cock, which felt hugeinside him was only considered average. But even though it was somewhat insulting, Sephiroth would gladly offend Cloud's manhood rather than buy him a larger size and have the thing slip off during sex. But then again, Cloud couldn't feel too bad about an organ that had managed to produce four kids in one fell swoop.

The third item Sephiroth bought was a box of icy hot packs, because Genesis had completely destroyed him. After breaking the news about their new work space, they had a celebratory battle on the training floor. Angeal stayed out of it, but Sephiroth had been forced to push every single part of his body to the breaking point.

He did not lose the match, but the victory had cost him dearly. And who else but Zack Fair decided to step up for sloppy seconds? He didn't show Sephiroth the slightest shred of mercy, and had treated him to a huge victory won fair and square. He could get fat, get pregnant, and sit at home for two solid months and still kick the asses of two of the best warriors Shin-Ra had.

But once he was back in the privacy of his office, he was left feeling like a Cadet on his first day of training - reamed. He'd managed to fracture his left hand in several places, but that part of his body was always used to abuse and had managed to knit itself back together by the early evening.

And the last item that Sephiroth purchased on his way home was a carton of sugar free frozen yogurt. He fucking deserved it.

He left the supermarket at half past six, and realized he was already late in getting home to his family. He drove there quickly, and was tremendously excited as he fumbled with his keys at the door. He finally managed to get into the apartment, and went to drop his bags in the kitchen. The post-dinner mess had already been cleaned up.

Sephiroth was startled when he realized he wasn't alone in the room. He was greeted by Tommy, who was resting in his high chair and looking up at Sephiroth with lidded, sleepy eyes.

He scooped the baby out of his high chair and felt his body surge with some kind of unidentified hormone. Just holding his children and listening to them breathe sometimes made him feel this way, a calm euphoria. Tommy didn't usually go for the hair, but in that moment he did.

Sephiroth felt the tug and smiled. "Hi buddy."

He heard Cloud's voice coming from the nursery, and followed the sound. Sephiroth found him laying Lucas down. Jamie and Zacky were already fast asleep.

"Hey you!" Cloud smiled excitedly, but his voice was a faint whisper, "I was just about to lay Tommy down, too. He doesn't need another bath, he was a very clean eater tonight."

"Nice," Sephiroth said, and handed the baby over after carefully extracting his silver hair from Tommy's hand. He watched as Cloud tucked their child into his crib with care, and smoothed his head before backing away like he was a time bomb.

"They had a couple naps today, but Jude kept them up the past couple hours for us," Cloud whispered, pulling Sephiroth out into the hallway and silently closing the nursery door.

"Where is he?"

"I sent him home about twenty minutes ago," Cloud came closer to tuck himself under Sephiroth's arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't get around to making dinner for us, yet. You hungry?"

"Nope," Sephiroth forgot all about his muscle pain, and nearly threw Cloud over his shoulder in his haste to get him to the bedroom. He dropped Cloud onto the mattress and immediately began to peel his clothes off. He was only wearing soccer shorts and a cotton hoodie, but nothing else he'd ever worn felt as good to take off of him. The soft cotton revealed softer skin, and the clingy fabric of his shorts and underwear slipped down his slim thighs easily.

Sephiroth kissed Cloud's stomach, and inhaled the scent of baby powder lingering on his skin. He rubbed his cheek against Cloud's honey blonde pubic hair, before rolling back up on his hands to kiss his mouth. The movement left Sephiroth's ass arched in the air, and Cloud closed his eyes and let his bare feet brush over the inviting curve while his lover's lips rolled against his own.

Cloud trembled, pressing his bare skin against leather. He had so many things to say, to demand... but he let it bleed from his mind as Sephiroth kissed him. It was a feeling that reminded him of being a virgin, a cadet, of being inexperienced and new in the arts of making love. Now Cloud knew everything by the book, but that uniform still felt powerful and hot against his naked body, and he knew it always would.

But as good as leather felt, he knew Sephiroth's burning skin was so much better. "Boots?"

It was the hardest part of Sephiroth's uniform to strip off, and they paused in tasting each other to loosen the metal straps. Once they were off of his legs, Cloud made quick work of Sephiroth's coat and pants. His body felt solid and strong, and Cloud admired it with his fingertips.

"You have bruises all over you," Cloud commented, circling a particularly large one on Sephiroth's ribs that had yet to fade. Somehow the purple marks only enhanced his mass and muscle; they were evidence of hard work.

"I fought," Sephiroth explained simply. He pressed their foreheads together and whispered. "I won."

"Good," Cloud growled, becoming drunk on in the masculinity that Sephiroth exuded. It was a welcome change of pace from the soft and nearly feminine way they both acted around their children. They were still trying to find that balance, but tipping the scales in the complete opposite direction felt amazing and necessary. "We never got a chance to really fight, did we?"

"We will soon," Sephiroth said, kissing across Cloud's jaw. "I'm not letting you get lazy. You're coming to train with me. I want those pounds back on you."

"All it took was four babies to make you finally want to train with me," Cloud grinned. He'd always pestered Sephiroth for lessons or at least a sparring match, but the General had always been too busy, or too aware of how the favoritism would appear. Not even in private would Sephiroth let go and battle Cloud, and it resulted in several huge arguments and an ocean of hurt feelings.

But that was a different period in time. Sephiroth decided to finally be honest, "You know I have a reputation. I'm unbeatable. So I was always a little nervous about facing you... because it just won't be fair."

Cloud rolled his eyes slightly. "I know I'm small, but - "

"No," Sephiroth smiled, laying his body flat against Cloud's. "When we fight, it won't be fair to me. You know all my weak spots. You know spots that even I don't fully know about."

Cloud paused to let that sink in, and a smile slowly appeared on his lips. He ran his fingertips down Sephiroth sides, making him shiver. "Like that?"

"Exactly..." Sephiroth nodded, his eyes clouding over with desire.

"I'm not going to be able to do that in a fight, though," Cloud giggled, running his fingers back up and left a trail of goose bumped skin behind them.

"You'd be surprised what that kind of information can do," Sephiroth purred. "You could ruin my reputation, Cloud. Easily."

Cloud closed his eyes, burying Sephiroth's ridiculous words with kisses. His lover had no reason to flatter him, so he was forced to take them as truth... And it made his body shake with anticipation as he folded his legs around Sephiroth to restlessly offer himself. "Seph... hurry."

"I don't want to hurry," Sephiroth told him, soaking in the sensation of strong legs wrapped around his waist. The smallest movements were making Cloud tremble and the highly responsive, virginal thrill was too sweet to rush. "We've finally got time... I'm gonna do this right."

Cloud groaned in frustration, and it lifted into a drawn out sigh when their lips met again. He framed Sephiroth's face with his hands and enjoyed the silky brush of his hair, every inch of smooth skin, every muscle that was carved from underneath it. Sephiroth's mouth left his, and the soft, plush lips began to move down his neck. They popped against his nipples, hard and sudden enough to make Cloud gasp out in surprise. Sephiroth's eyes met his as he continued kissing his way down, and his lips finally slid over the throbbing vein of his cock.

Cloud's entire body twitched in response. He stifled any sounds he would have made with his hand as Sephiroth's mouth sucked him in, surrounding his most sensitive part in moist, sucking heat. It ended far too soon, and Cloud opened his eyes to watch Sephiroth extend his tongue and run it over his balls, and down below.

He gasped against the back of his hand, not wanting another outburst to be the one to wake their children. He couldn't even imagine stopping.

Sephiroth pushed his thighs back, and let his tongue languidly brush between his ass cheeks. It then nudged into his hole again, hard enough to make it pucker. Sephiroth smiled audibly before driving his tongue inside, his nose pressing against Cloud's balls and inhaling the scent of his arousal dreamily.

Cloud wanted to scream. He reached down with one hand to pull his ass cheek back, opening himself further for Sephiroth's hot tongue. It felt even stronger than fingers, and flicked with far more dexterity. Cloud felt Sephiroth's saliva drip over the curve of his ass, warm and slow against his skin.

"Fuck me with your tongue," Cloud whispered, uncovering his mouth to reach down and push the back of Sephiroth's head closer between his legs.

Sephiroth's head shook ravenously, like some feral animal that was savoring the fruits of a hunt. Then his head came up suddenly, his lips wet and red as he thrust two fingers into Cloud. to occupy the space

"You taste so good," He gasped out, fucking Cloud with his fingers as his eyes burned with green mako fire.

Cloud twisted on the bed to search for lubricant. He had more than enough from Sephiroth's saliva, but knew the man would enter him quicker if the hole was lubed properly. Cloud finally found it and fumbled, pouring way too much on his lower stomach before finally getting some on the target.

Sephiroth tilted his head and rubbed it into Cloud's skin, making him nearly glisten. He liked the sight so much he took the lube from Cloud and squirted nearly the entire thing on his flat, toned stomach. They were both trapped in such a lust crazed state of mind that they didn't even skip a beat before spreading it all over each other with greedy hands.

Cloud reached down to grab at Sephiroth's arms, yanking him close, "Now... do it..."

Sephiroth looked down to watch his slick cock push into Cloud. The sight of Cloud's pink hole swallowing the rigid, curved tip was more than enough to get him off, and he felt his balls literally pulse with the initial waves of orgasm. He was forced to use every ounce of self control, right down to the cellular level.

Sephiroth gradually pushed in all the way before he let out the air he'd been holding. "... So good."

"Been waiting for you," Cloud spoke softly, and his arms stretched out to pull Sephiroth closer.

They shared kiss as Cloud's body enveloped Sephiroth's. Cloud began to move first, easing his hips up and down to create a rhythm between Sephiroth's hard body and the mattress. The General was slow to join, but once he'd gotten a handle on his will power he was able to move inside Cloud without the danger of an abrupt conclusion.

Soon enough it was perfect; just the right amount of slick tension and sharp pleasure. Cloud loved this part, when they let the rest of the world fade back and were consumed only with one another. Cloud knew he couldn't have fallen for a more flawed man, but he was an angel under these soft, intimate circumstances.

Cloud's hand drifted down to his cock, and began stroking to compliment the motions of Sephiroth's hips. A steady slap of firm flesh began to echo through the room as their pleasure began to steadily escalate. Cloud sucked in air with every sharp jab, and swallowed back careless wails of pleasure that built in his throat. The self imposed limitation made him wild, almost as though there were a set of handcuffs on his vocal chords.

Sephiroth could feel every part of Cloud's body tighten and loosen with every quick breath. He would have lasted forever if he could, but knew he had sixty seconds at most before Cloud's beautiful heat milked him of everything. "Cloud..."

Cloud was beyond ready, and pumped himself eagerly. "Give me everything... Fuck me with all of it..."

Sephiroth still held it back, torturing himself to the very last moment before allowing his orgasm to tear through him. His thrusts were fast and slightly erratic, but he didn't allow sensitivity to stop him from reaching in to fuck Cloud deep. With the feeling of Sephiroth's hot release inside of him, Cloud gladly let go.

He bit his lip, angling his cock so he could watch his own fluid spraying Sephiroth's tight stomach. He growled, utterly satisfied when it began to drip down, sliding across the shallow, soft ripple of Sephiroth's abs and pool in his belly button.

Sephiroth slowly pulled out, and his cock was dripping with a thick, foamy coating of semen. He didn't even give Cloud a chance to catch his breath before pulling him closer by the wrist. "Clean it."

Cloud's vision blurred as he opened his mouth to accept Sephiroth's cock down his throat. Tears from a desperately needed orgasm, coupled with complete delight as being so deliciously used sprang to his eyes. He let Sephiroth see them as he sucked his cheeks in tight, swallowing every glob of precious, bitter fluid that he could reach. There was some collected at the base that he was unable to reach, so he let Sephiroth's cock go and instead licked it off, and ducked his head to greedily gobble Sephiroth's balls.

He licked his way back to the tip before purring up at him, "I bet you have lots more in there for me..."

"Uh huh," Sephiroth affirmed, taking his cock and letting it tap against Cloud's outstretched tongue. "You better have more for me, too."

Cloud couldn't have been more turned on; his release had only served to truly awaken the starving teenage hormones bouncing around inside his skull.

His ass had been barely teased at that point... he needed it to be sore, to get properly, thoroughly fucked by the man he respected most in the world. With a long, sharp suck, Cloud bid farewell to Sephiroth's cock and turned around in front of him in the mattress.

He was shameless, and presenting his hungry ass. "Fuck it for real, now. Like you mean it. Make it red."

Glad to accept the challenge, Sephiroth lined himself up and shoved his way inside. Cloud's back arched, not only for viewing pleasure, but to search for that perfect angle. It wasn't hard to find, and it left his ass perked up high and wide for Sephiroth to work against.

Cloud was able to keep mostly silent against the mattress, muffling his own sounds until they were reduced to breathless panting. In some ways that stifled sound was even hotter to listen to than a booming moan. It made Cloud sound helpless, trapped, enraptured ... Sephiroth gave his ass a hard slap and forced that breath to sharpen into a harsh gasp.

"Yes!" Cloud whispered, pushing back against Sephiroth's hips. He peered over his shoulder, and said almost hesitantly. "... Daddy..."

Sephiroth let out a chuckle, and slapped the other cheek. Cloud's eyes lidded, and he bit his soft lips, making Sephiroth almost regret this position. He wanted to kiss Cloud while he owned his tight ass, and he found himself pulling out to push Cloud onto his back.

He sloppily covered Cloud's mouth in kisses, shifting restlessly as he searched to line up their bodies. "I can't even figure out how I wanna fuck you."

"Just do it," Cloud gasped, letting out a moan when he was plunged into. He grabbed onto Sephiroth's shoulders, his fingers digging into muscle as every part of his body was worked over. In his state of lust, he ran his fingers down Sephiroth's back, before he made his hands flat and cupped his firm, shapely ass.

Cloud dared to tease his hole with one finger, and Sephiroth paused. It was like the entire world stood still.

Afraid he'd done something wrong, Cloud quickly moved his hands away. Sephiroth lifted his head, though, blinking down at him. "... You want that?"

Cloud shook his head, "No, it's okay. I was just playing... Keep going..."

"Are you sure?" Sephiroth asked, and resumed moving his rigid cock within Cloud. "... I'd be up for it."

Cloud frowned. "It's too risky. And what if you're not done healing?"

"Only one way to find out," Sephiroth smiled devilishly, and his thrusts picked up speed. "Besides... I got you... Something at the store."

Cloud could easily guess what it was. And the fact that Sephiroth would choose to purchase such a thing meant that he really did want it. Cloud loved to give it, so narrowed his eyes with a smile, "... Let's do it, then."

Sephiroth kissed his mouth once more before pulling out gently. He jogged out to the kitchen to snatch the bags off the counter, and a couple of spoons for the melting frozen yogurt. He brought everything back and pulled out the most necessary item, not letting Cloud have a look at the box before ripping it open and retrieving a single condom.

"Sorry it has to be like this," Sephiroth admitted, hurriedly tearing it open with his teeth.

"I really don't care at this point," Cloud licked his lips eagerly, his eyes roaming over Sephiroth's body. He rolled the condom on easily and went up to his knees and looked down at it. He'd never worn one before. "Does it look silly?"

"Nah. Actually looks kind of kinky on you," Sephiroth smiled, and pulled Cloud closer by the hips. He laid on his side and allowed Cloud to spread his legs, and was glad when hr didn't recoil at the sight of it. Aerith's comment about the scarring made him slightly self conscious, but he wanted to get fucked, not win a butthole beauty pageant so to hell with it.

Cloud squeezed out whatever remained in their wasted tube of lubricant. He pushed a finger inside, watching Sephiroth's face closely for a reaction. "... Okay?"

"It's okay," He nodded. Even through three fingers and a few experimental swipes of his pink tongue, it all felt okay. Maybe even better than before.

Cloud went up on his knees, letting one of Sephiroth's long, slim legs rest on his shoulder. He gently pushed his sheathed cock inside, and his eyes nearly rolled back. "Mm ... It feels just as good with the condom."

"Good..." Sephiroth breathed, his jaw dropping at the sensation of being filled again. It had been a damn long time, and he wondered if it had always felt so fucking good. Cloud began to move his agile hips and built up momentum enough to pound them against Sephiroth's ass. With no babies in his body to consider, Cloud felt much more free to give Sephiroth the rough treatment that they both so enjoyed.

It all ignited some sort of manly instinct in Cloud. It felt fucking amazing to be inside Sephiroth, and those pink scars on his hole were good, they'd been caused by good things. The room next door was filled with those good things. There was nothing negative about any of it.

Cloud didn't know what came over him, but he suddenly found the condom very unnecessary. What was it even there for? Why was there anything separating them? Wouldn't it feel so much cozier without it? How could fucking him raw be bad when it felt so good?

Without hesitation, Cloud pulled out of Sephiroth to slide the condom off. He tossed it to the side and plunged back into Sephiroth's hot body, this time without any sort of pesky barrier. "Oh shit..."

Sephiroth saw it all happen ... But didn't stop it. It didn't even occur to him to stop it. It felt too good... Too right. Fuck, fuck, fuck it was right.

For the next several minutes, Cloud possessed Sephiroth's body. He grabbed, pulled and bit him like an animal. Sephiroth accepted it, loved it, and ended up on the tail end of an amazing climax as Cloud's entire groin pulsed, filling him with hot, sticky...

With a solid punch to his face, Cloud blinked and came back to reality. Sephiroth scrambled backwards, panting furiously. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

Cloud lept from the bed, sucking his bleeding lip between his teeth. "I didn't know!"

"What the fuck do you mean, you didn't know?" Sephiroth whispered hoarsely, snatching up the discarded condom to hurl it at him.

"Why didn't you stop me!" Cloud whispered back shrilly. "Do something! Rinse it out!"

Sephiroth flew into the bathroom and nearly ripped the shower knobs out of the wall to get the water on. He yanked the hand held shower head off the holder and squatted over it, cursing frantically as Cloud's hot semen came out of him like a river. He gripped his hair as he furiously thought back on why he hadn't stopped this from happening. He hoped it was a dream, just some crazy nightmare to wake up from.

... Then it dawned on him.

Cloud was swaying from foot to foot, both hands covering his mouth . "I'm sorry... I don't know why... I didn't... I couldn't have... I wouldn't have..."

"I know," Sephiroth gritted between his teeth, angry but not at Cloud.

"You don't think you're pregnant again?"

"No," Sephiroth declared firmly. "I'm not. I know that I'm not."

Cloud was panting, "How can you know? It only takes a drop of... boy stuff! I learned that in health class!"

"Shut the fuck up, Cloud. I know what it feels like to be... infested. I'm not infested. But I guess... someone wanted us to try."

"What happened to us?"

"Well, Cloud..." Sephiroth announced as he finally decided his ass was completely free of Cloud's boy stuff. "I'm pretty sure we just got a visit from my mom."

"... She's a dead fish, Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, his blue eyes jumping around the room for any signs that Sephiroth's creepy alien mother had slithered into their apartment somehow.

"She is not a fish," Sephiroth said for the hundredth time. "And she's not dead. It's gonna sound odd, but... I think she influenced our behavior us just now."

Cloud didn't seem entirely convinced, but his hands slowly covered his genitalia. "She watches us have sex?"

"I don't think she watches. I think she just wants... More..." Sephiroth suddenly felt sick. He was glad he was already squatting, because it was easy to duck his head between his knees. He agreed to stand back and let their race inherit the planet Earth... He did not agree to become a fucking queen bee and churn them out continuously like an egg factory.

He couldn't go through that again. He wouldn't.

Sephiroth dry heaved, and it sounded like something between a sob and a laugh.

Cloud approached the bathtub. He stepped in to sit beside Sephiroth, turning the dials to fill the tub with hot water. He then put his arms around his lover, rubbing his back in soothing circles. "... Promise not to punch me again?"

"Sure," Sephiroth grunted.

"That was like, the best sex ever," Cloud let out a silly snort. "And you're not knocked up again, so it's win win as far as I'm concerned!"

Sephiroth brought his head up and grinned. He made a loose fist and gave Cloud a gentle bop in the jaw. "Well, that won't be happening again. I'll have a little chit chat with my mom soon enough."

"What do you mean? You're going to Nibelheim?"

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

"There's a lot of stuff I need to talk to you about."

"Talking?" Cloud groaned, and stretched out as the hot water began to gain height in the tub. "I just wanna relax. Maybe fuck again with you on top."

"In a minute. I saw Aerith today..."

A/N

1 - MPREG!

2 - But let me calm any doubts. I won't throw a lame curve ball like LOL SEPH'S PREGNANNERS RIGHT AWAY AGAIN LOLOL. He's really not pregnant. There's a reason it happened, though. That's what "next chapters" are for, clearing up these sort of things. But I wanted you to rest assured that there are no sudden, truly unwanted babies. I am positive that they would not be as well received as the current litter. Like omg, Cloud would throw Seph down the nearest flight of stairs.

2 - True facts, my dad had two baby sharks when I was a little kid. They weren't much bigger than the size of a normal fish of course, there was a pinkish one and a blue one. I have no idea about fish genders, but I'm comfortable saying the pink one was a girl and the blue one was a boy. I'd put my nose on the tank and look in at them, and they wouldn't react much. But then, out of NOWHERE'S VILLE, the pink one would RAM the glass with her FACE. Like seriously, this bitch would shoot to the back of the tank and full steam ahead SLAM into the glass. It was fucking weird, and my mom always like, attempted to calm the fish, "Hey, settle down in that water!" How do you CALM a CRAZY FISH? Anyways, the pink one's eyes fell out from all the glass ramming. She outlived the blue one though, I'm pretty sure. True, sordid facts.


	11. Three Months to Infinity

The babies hadn't left the apartment at all since they'd been brought home from the lab. They'd been outside here and there, toted along for a sit down by the pool if they were being too noisy while their brothers were trying to sleep. It wasn't important from them to have too much outside stimuli yet, and frankly Cloud was happy to put it off as long as possible.

But they had an appointment at the lab, and Aerith insisted they be brought in for a more formal evaluation than a house call could permit.

Sephiroth was greeting the stressful challenge with as much fury and attitude as possible. Even just strapping them into their car seats for the first time was a huge ordeal for the General.

Luckily for Cloud, Sephiroth was taking his anxiety out on the mannies. "What the hell are you doing?"

The manny in question was Rob, a graying second class SOLDIER who was a father of two and a grandfather of three. He paused in mid-action to answer his superior's question, "Well, I'm strapping James here into his car seat."

"His name is Jamie, and he doesn't have a coat on, yet!" Sephiroth spat at him, reaching past to hastily unbuckle the baby. "It's autumn! There's wind! It's practically snowing outside!"

Bob patted Sephiroth's shoulder, "The jumper he's got on is fine, General. I'm going to buckle them in and then cover them up with a warm blanket... so they'll be covered entirely and it won't be a lot of hassle to undress them for the check-up."

"Oh," Sephiroth's expression softened.

He might not have risen to the military ranks that Sephiroth occupied, but Bob was far wiser in the arts of being a dad. "Trust me, the last thing you wanna put on a newborn is outer wear. Blankets are a lot easier than tugging eight little flailing arms through sleeves."

Cloud seemed a tiny bit put out by this practical advice. "Aww. The jackets are so cute, though."

"Put them on some other time and take a picture," was all Bob had to say about it, and continued strapping Jamie in without one.

Manny Jude was coming along for the trip to the lab, and was in charge of packing the baby bag. "You think eight diapers will be enough for the trip?"

"I hope..." Cloud sighed, gently struggling against Zacky while he squirmed feebly against being buckled into the car seat. The baby didn't seem to like wearing clothes, and any further restraint was unwelcome. Cloud laughed a little at the scrunched displeased expression his son made, and covered him up in a wool blanket, to which the baby used his tail to push against it.

Eventually the rest of the babies were buckled into the seats, tucked under heavy blankets and a pacifier in their mouths to occupy them. The bag was packed with enough diapers, extra clothes, powder and formula to survive a sudden apocalypse. Each man took a car seat and they left the apartment for the outside world.

The baby seats included a cradle that stayed permanently in the car via the seatbelts, and a locking baby carrier. But figuring out how the cradle actually secured via a seatbelt was also a huge challenge for the new dads. Jude didn't have much experience on the subject to offer any real advice, and Bob was accustomed to a far older, simpler version of car seats without all the bells and whistles.

The four SOLDIERs couldn't figure out how they worked, so Cloud had to run back up into the apartment for a manual. He then proceeded to loudly bicker with Sephiroth over how to lock them in place.

"It says to move the seatbelt diagonally through the blue strap!" Cloud kept repeating.

"What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?" Sephiroth kept demanding.

Meanwhile, the mannies stayed as far away as possible with the four babies, who seemed in no better mood than their dads. But with a little team work, two seats were secure in the backseat of Sephiroth's truck, and two in the back of Jude's sedan.

The situation revealed the fact that they needed a bigger car. Sephiroth's truck and Cloud motorcycle wouldn't do with four babies. They needed something more family friendly... but definitely not a minivan.

Despite the drama, they made it to the lab on time for their appointment. The mannies bid the family farewell and busied themselves with their own duties at HQ to give them privacy, and to get the hell away from Sephiroth's foul mood. Sephiroth was grateful for the exodus, if only for the fact that Aerith or Cloud might accidently say something that incriminated his male body of being able to fucking bear mutant children.

"There are my favorite boys!" Aerith cooed, practically skipping towards Sephiroth and Cloud when they entered her office.

"Hi Aerith!" Cloud greeted.

She definitely wasn't so excited to see Cloud in particular, and immediately snatched one of the baby carriers from him. "Which one is this? Ohhh, hello Lucas!"

Cloud smiled and set the other carrier on a seat near the examination table, "I must be getting out of shape. Carrying two of these is killing my arms!"

She wasn't listening, and had uncovered Lucas to unbuckle him from the seat. She scooped the baby up and pressed her cheek against the wispy silver fuzz starting to cover his bald head. "Did you get here alright? Any trouble?"

Sephiroth set the occupied carriers securely on her countertop. "I can move troops without even trying, but getting these four little fuckers to HQ was nearly impossible."

Cloud shot him a dangerous look. "Well if you hadn't gotten impatient and broken off that plastic thingy we needed to get the car seat - "

"Shove it," Sephiroth cut him off. He then turned to Aerith. "We're taking up the manny's time too, so let's get this over with. I don't like my kids being here."

"Alright. Lucas is first, then!" She popped a kiss to the little boy's full, round cheek and set him on a cushioned, colorful countertop cover.

She checked the little boy head to toe for any signs of abnormality. Lucas didn't seem to like all the contact and attention, and mostly shoved his tail in his mouth to comfort himself as much as possible. When Aerith pulled it out to check his throat and gums, he let out a shrill wail that only served to speed up the process. Once the tail was reinserted, Lucas was quiet again.

"Alright, here's the tough part." Aerith drummed her fingers on the table. "I need to get him his shots... I'm worried that if he cries, he's going to scare the others... so how about we save the shots for last and do all the boys at once?"

"Shots," Cloud said dreamily. "I could really go for a few lemon drop shots right about now."

And so Aerith continued examining each boy in turn. Eventually while examining Zacky she broached an uncomfortable topic. "Um... we never really discussed circumcision - "

"No!" Sephiroth and Cloud cried in unison. They made eye contact with one another and smiled, and it seemed as though a bit of the stressful tension in the room dissolved.

She grinned as she put Zacky's diaper back on. "I think that's the first time I've heard you two agree on anything."

While it was Tommy's turn, Cloud watched the way she snapped her fingers around the baby's head, trying to gauge his reactions. "I read that they can't really see much at this age."

Aerith shined a light near Tommy's bright green eyes, "I'm guessing they can't see details, normal babies only see shapes, shadows and figures. They're reacting to light and sound normally... there's just no real way to be sure. Their eyes are feline, so there's really no telling how developed they are at 2 months... All this is going in my second book."

"This is all going in my baby book!" Cloud agreed, turning to the diaper bag to retrieve his coveted memento scrapbook. "Can we make little footy prints? I wanna compare them to when they were born!"

"Good idea! Can you scan them and send them to me? Actually, scan the whole book and send it to me."

"Sure!" Cloud giggled.

"I'm assuming our children are receiving confidentiality?" Sephiroth interjected. He didn't mind that Aerith was using their children for cornerstone research, but didn't really want their names associated with a book about butt babies.

"No names, no photographs!" Aerith promised. "I'm referring to them as the Doobie Brothers."

"That joke's never going to get old with you, is it?" Sephiroth griped.

After a little play time in the print powder, Cloud marveled at the difference two months made. The newborn hatchling footprints barely registered as human since they were so tiny, but at two months they were normal, chunky baby footprints. Their weights were normal as well, all four boys were a few ounces give or take from nine pounds.

But then the fun was over when Aerith finally announced, "It's time for the shots. You gave them the baby Tylenol this morning, right?"

"Yeah..." Cloud nodded, kissing Jamie on the forehead before laying him on her soft countertop cover. "Let's get it over with."

"What are the shots, exactly?" Sephiroth questioned.

"Immunizations that normal children get. I don't know if they need it or not... but it's standard, and the records are necessary for them to attend preschool. Plus, I think it might be beneficial for them to be put on a mako regimen - "

Sephiroth made an incredulous noise. "You know what I'm going to say to that, so why even bring it up?"

"Well, they come straight from you, Sephiroth... you're the most heavily engineered SOLDIER in the army. They were born with an element that they're no longer getting..." Aerith gently gestured to Jamie. "He can't speak for himself yet, we don't know how he's feeling. He doesn't seem to be uncomfortable, so if he went through a withdrawal it's long over. But putting them on a small dosage will help gauge how -"

"No," Sephiroth decided. "This is too close to experimentation. I won't have it."

Cloud touched his arm, "I don't think a tiny dosage will hurt. If nothing else... it'll just make them healthier. Mako is good for everybody."

"You really wanna risk mako poisoning your sons? Because I don't. They're not SOLDIERs, they're two fucking months old. I don't think they need enhancement."

"It's not about enhancement. I think giving them a tiny amount weekly will benefit them. If I don't see any change during their check up next month, we'll just wean them off of it and forget it. And I'm not recommending this to get them into the lab more often, it can be a small shot you administer at home."

"Fucking doctors. You people are all the same," Sephiroth muttered irritably. "Fine, do it. I don't have a say in anything having to do with these kids, anyways. The two of you just do what you want."

"Seph, I know how you feel when you've gone too long without mako therapy..." Cloud told him gently. "I would hate for the boys to feel like shit and not know why or be able to tell us..."

"I already said to go ahead with it. Let's do the shots so we can get them out of here... before this bitch talks you into something crazier."

Aerith let the comment slide, and went into her cooler to retrieve the vaccinations. She brought out several needles on a tray and set them next to the baby.

The syringes were almost as long as Jamie's entire leg. Cloud's eyes went round and wide. "Don't you have a baby-sized needle?!"

"It's okay," Aerith assured him, and prepped the syringes for four sets of hasty injections. She then picked Jamie up and passed him to Sephiroth. "Will you hold him while I do it? Make sure he doesn't squirm too much."

Sephiroth did as she asked. Cloud chewed on his thumbnail, watching with wide eyes as the first needle sank into Jamie's stubby little thigh. The baby whimpered as it was pulled out, but when Aerith came back for the second one, he began to wail in earnest. Sephiroth held his leg still however, allowing Aerith to finish the injection without dragging the needle around in his skin and making the pain worse. It was a clean process, only a tiny droplet of blood left behind after she pulled it away.

"I'm gonna be sick!" Cloud cried, reacting almost as badly as the baby was.

Sephiroth tried not to think about it, but couldn't help wondering if the lab had showed him this sort of care when he was Jamie's size. He knew for damn sure they didn't care when he was old enough to retain memories. It wasn't as though they got off on causing him pain. But if it happened, it happened. No baby Tylenol to ease his aches, no caring hands to hold him still against his natural instinct to fight against shots, or electrical charges, or survival tests, or impromptu operations.

The medical lab violated his body every day of his childhood. While Jamie and the others would never remember this brief round of shots, Sephiroth vowed to protect them from that kind of physical trauma.

"Don't give him mako," Sephiroth heard himself say over the sound of Jamie's screeching.

Aerith was already poised with the syringe, a very tiny amount still making the entire thing glow and pulse with soft light. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Cloud touched the small of Sephiroth's back. "I agree, no more shots."

"You're not going to give me shit and argue with me?" Sephiroth prodded.

"I trust you," Cloud told him, rubbing up his back a few times before kissing the top of Jamie's head.

"Jamie's done with his shots, then. Who's next?"

While they'd discovered many of the joys of being fathers already, doing everything four times over was a serious drawback. Each boy had to be held still against the shots, and soon the office was echoed with a chorus of hellish agony. The sound broke both fathers' hearts, and they kissed and cuddled the babies as best they could.

Tommy was the last one to be done, and Cloud rocked him gently in an effort to soothe his crying while he dug around in the diaper bag for formula. "Can I heat some of this up? Bottles will help put them to sleep."

Aerith was sitting on her desk with Lucas and trying to shush him. "Good idea! There's a burner under the sink and some big flasks."

Sephiroth was slouched down low in Aerith's rolling desk chair with both arms full of Jamie and Zacky, both babies hysterical beyond consolation. "Fucking hurry. Jamie is losing his mind."

While Cloud balanced setting up the burner and gently bouncing the very fussy and irritated Tommy, he broached another topic of conversation. "Hey Aerith? I wanted to talk to you about something really weird that happened to us the other night. I - "

"Whoah!" Sephiroth interrupted, "I thought we were gonna wait to talk about this when the kids aren't here."

"This experience is giving me a very real incentive to get this out in the open!" Cloud insisted as he began mixing formula.

Aerith glanced between Sephiroth and Cloud, waiting for either to elaborate. "What?"

"We were being intimate the other night..." Cloud nervously continued, "... And something very strange came over me. I tried to... fertilize Sephiroth again."

If she had been standing, Aerith would have very likely dropped the baby she was holding. "What? Why would you do that?"

"Jenova," Sephiroth stated, as though that explained everything.

Aerith's jaw kept dropping as she processed this information over and over. "So... Jenova... you allowed him to... I thought you two were going to use condoms!"

Cloud was bright red, "We did! But I wasn't really in control of my body, something came over me and it made sense to... take the condom off."

Aerith gasped, "So did you?..."

Cloud buried his face in the top of Tommy's silver head and nodded in shame. "Yes!"

Sephiroth gave a bored sigh, "I'm not fertilized."

"So make me understand this. You were making love, and just... decided to remove the condom? Because... why?"

Cloud shrugged remorsefully. "I don't know. It just... made sense. It was as if I was drunk."

Aerith snapped her head in Sephiroth's direction. "And you let him!?"

"Sure," Sephiroth affirmed as though it was no big deal.

"When exactly did this happen?" Aerith asked.

"Night before last," Sephiroth answered.

"Oh thank God!" She cried, holding the baby secure against her chest as she grabbed her phone and began to jab at the numbers. "I can give you a Plan B prescription, just in case fertilization did occur! Better safe than sorry... and if Jenova does this again you'll have some at the house!"

Sephiroth huffed, "It probably won't work. But sure."

Once Aerith called in a hasty prescription, she hung up with a gasp of disbelief. "I've never heard of Jenova cells influencing anybody but... Sephiroth or his clones. This is major."

"She considers him one of her own, now," Sephiroth said, bouncing the babies gently.

"What the hell did she say to you in the reactor?" Aerith demanded to know.

"None of your business!" Sephiroth growled. "You know what you need to know."

Cloud had an opening to continue on to his point. "So since it's obvious that Jenova has some amount of control over me... maybe it's a good idea to have a vasectomy? For real."

"You're only nineteen," Aerith remarked sadly.

"And I'm already a father of four," Cloud reminded her. "I really don't need to add to the litter."

Sephiroth let out a long sigh. "It's probably the only real option we have... I can't imagine a scenario where we'd need them, but we could freeze some of Cloud's semen right?"

"If we do it, Cloud... think you can keep it in your pants long enough to make sure it works?" Aerith laughed. "Sometimes you still release sperm after the snip, it takes a couple weeks to tell."

Cloud was thoroughly embarrassed to be spoken to this way. "Yes, ma'am!"

"We'll schedule you for it as soon as possible."

Cloud was using tongs to shake formula around in the flask as it warmed. "When's the soonest you can take a day off work, Seph?"

"Tomorrow."

Despite his blush, Cloud was resolute as he agreed. "Sounds good to me... this needs to be done right away. And... once that's taken care of, there's also something else you and Sephiroth need to do..."

Aerith didn't even bother trying to guess. "What now?"

"I want to take our girl's remains to Nibelheim," Sephiroth told her. "And I need to talk to my mother about boundaries."

"Do you think she'll even listen?" Aerith wondered.

"Yes."

"Well... we can take a trip out there sometime next week?"

"How about the day after tomorrow?" Sephiroth suggested, as he wasn't in the mood to fuck around.

She blinked her eyes in disbelief, but nodded. "... Okay... I guess I can move some things around and free up the day."

Cloud grunted. "I know I can't go with you guys, but I cannot believe this is going to be your second trip to my hometown without me."

"Next time it'll be all about you and the boys," Sephiroth promised him. "When they're a little older we'll take them out to meet their grandmother."

Cloud stopped shaking the flask. "You'd really want to do that?... I haven't talked to my mom in years..."

"Oh." Sephiroth blinked. "I was talking about my mom. But they should meet yours too, of course."

Cloud and Aerith exchanged an uncomfortable glance. There was an unspoken understanding that Sephiroth was a stark raving lunatic when it came to a handful of topics, and the disfigured alien garbage that referred to itself as his mother topped that list.

Aerith laughed nervously, "I must say, you two have made my life very interesting."

Once the formula was nice and warm, the boys were fed until they stopped crying and fell into an exhausted, traumatized sleep. The next time they awoke, they were safe and sound at home, and the awful shots were long forgotten.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Cloud entered the apartment the following afternoon, he was walking very slowly and carefully, as though he had a massive plug up his ass.

Sephiroth was in the kitchen giving the boys their lunch. He had dismissed the daily manny and had taken care of the babies all morning on his own. Even though he'd only worked a few days since his leave, he still seized the opportunity to spend the morning with them.

The novelty of being alone with four demanding babies soon wore off. He'd been relieved to hear Cloud return home, and was about to call out to him when Cloud slowly passed the kitchen without a word.

Jamie seemed done with his current bottle, so Sephiroth tucked the baby into his high chair and hesitantly followed Cloud towards the bedroom. "So what happened?..."

Cloud didn't turn around, and continued his slow, careful trod.

"Cloud, stop. Are you okay?"

"Can't," Cloud rasped. "Can't stop. Gotta make it to the bed before I stop."

"Let me help you - "

"Don't touch me!" Cloud squeaked. "Just... don't."

Sephiroth anxiously followed him into the bedroom, where Cloud very slowly pushed all of their pillows to the center of the bed. He then gently crawled on top of them, then rolled over onto his back with a meandering whimper.

Once he'd settled, Cloud eyed his shoes and pants wearily. "Can you help me?"

Sephiroth immediately went about untying Cloud sneakers and dropped them on the floor. Very tenderly he unzipped Cloud's jeans and pulled them down his legs, stopping whenever Cloud hissed in pain.

"What are you wearing?" Sephiroth asked, referring to the odd bulge in Cloud's boxer briefs.

"A jockstrap underneath my undies," Cloud answered, his eyebrows knitted in discomfort as he shifted around on the mound of pillows.

"Want me to take your jacket and shirt off?"

"No."

"Seriously?"

"It's the least of my worries," Cloud sighed, looking quite odd on the mountain of pillows in an oversized hoodie and his underwear.

"Are you in serious pain right now?" he asked, coming closer to help adjust the pillows.

"Seph... you shat five huge eggs in front of me," Cloud grunted and hissed again as he came to rest. "I'm fine compared to that."

"Did she Cure you?"

"Yeah. But it's still so sore." Cloud opened his eyes and gazed up at Sephiroth. "She drove me home and I... couldn't sit on the passenger seat. I had to stay on all fours in the backseat."

Sephiroth tried not to laugh, but failed. "Sounds like you had a fun morning."

"It was humiliating," Cloud grunted, shutting his eyes again.

There was a small cry from the kitchen, and Sephiroth smoothed Cloud's hair out of his face. "I'll bring them in here. Would that cheer you up?"

Cloud nodded with a wide smile. "I missed them this morning."

Sephiroth made two trips, tucking the boys on the bed beside Cloud. They weren't big enough to roll anywhere, but he created a little nest out of a few spare blankets to ensure that they couldn't even if they tried.

They were a little drooly and sticky from their lunch, but ready for a nap on their dad's cozy bed. Lucas was a little unhappy however, so Sephiroth scooped him up and laid him on his tummy against Cloud's chest.

Once the boys were settled in, Sephiroth propped his head on his elbow and smiled at Cloud. "So tell me what happened."

Cloud let out a long sigh, kissing the top of Jaime's fuzzy head. "... First of all, Aerith made me jerk off."

There was a sputter from Sephiroth. "I assume she had you go in a different room for that?"

"Of course!" Cloud squawked. "I told her I really didn't need to freeze a semen sample but she insisted. She even gave me lube and dirty magazines."

"Which ones?"

"GQ and Men's Health."

Sephiroth chuckled. "Did they help?"

Cloud made a casual humming sound. "Uh... Well, Hugh Jackman was in Men's Health, so there was that."

"How long did it take you?"

"About... three minutes."

"Typical."

Cloud wrinkled his nose. "Anyways! After I gave her a sample... Aerith shaved my balls."

Sephiroth let out a booming laugh, and attempted to stifle it to no avail. It roused the babies however, and he stroked the tops of their heads to get them to settle back down, "Why didn't she just tell you to shave them beforehand?"

"She's insane..." Cloud grumbled, staring up at the ceiling in misery. "She said she prefers to do the surgical prep herself... so after she shaved my fucking balls, she put me on some laughing gas..."

"Do you remember anything from the surgery itself?" Sephiroth asked morbidly.

"Not really... it only took a few minutes. She Cured me before she took me off the gas... it is totally sore, though. I was too afraid to look... " Cloud lifted his head to peer down at himself over Lucas. "Will you look at it? Tell me if it looks okay?..."

Sephiroth didn't particularly want to, but didn't show any discomfort or disgust on his face as he gently nudged Cloud's underwear down his thighs. He then peeked inside his jockstrap and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "It looks fine."

"My balls, though. Check out my balls," Cloud urged.

Sephiroth couldn't help but laugh again, and then pulled the strap down lower to get a better look at them. What he discovered sent a whole new shock of laughter echoing through the room. "They're bald, and there's a Hello Kitty band-aid on your gooch."

Cloud joined in on the laughter, shaking Lucas awake. "Please don't ever say 'gooch' to me again!"

Sephiroth readjusted Cloud's jockstrap and pulled his underwear back up. "You'll be fine, champ. Thanks for going through it."

"You're welcome," Cloud replied, and let his head drop onto the pillows. "... But I didn't do it for you. This was completely necessary for me."

"Fair enough," He said, giving Cloud's thigh an affectionate rub before settling back on the bed beside the drowsy babies, who seemed a little irritated with their parents' loud conversation. "So what do you have to do now?"

"I have some medicine to take for a couple days, and I can take off the jockstrap when the pills run out. No sexual activity for a week... and once I have about twenty ejaculations, I need to call her to test my junk and make sure it's semen-free."

"Twenty ejaculations, huh? ... We should work hard to bust that out as soon as possible," Sephiroth flirted.

"You're not invited," Cloud replied. "I'm gonna be doing it all by myself, without any help from you or Jenova."

"... Ouch," Sephiroth responded after a moment of shock.

Cloud looked over at him, his mouth a tense line. "... Did that sound mean?"

"Kind of."

He reached out to touch Sephiroth's face. "Sorry honey... when you talk to her, just... make sure she knows she's not welcome here."

"I'll fix it," Sephiroth told him, leaning over the boys to give him a kiss. "I'm gonna put them to bed. Put some earplugs in and sleep for a while."

Cloud craned his neck up to steal another kiss from Sephiroth as he took Lucas. "Thank you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Alright," Sephiroth said, entering Jenova's chamber and closing it behind him, much to Aerith's protests. This conversation needed to be completely private and off the record. "What the hell are you thinking?"

'What?' Jenova asked innocently.

Sephiroth had enough time to think about this situation on the helicopter ride to get really fucking angry. The fact that Cloud had to go through a painful procedure and subsequent recovery process, the fact that he was uncomfortable about their sex life now, and the fact that his mother had lied to him about having a daughter was beyond traiterous. He'd agreed to help colonize the planet with thier cells, but didn't agree to have his sexual freedom stripped away.

Sephiroth wasn't shy about displaying his anger in front of his alien mother. "You know damn fucking well what. Don't you ever get involved with Cloud like that again, ever!"

'What are you so upset about?'

"You tricked me," Sephiroth realized. "You set me up. You did this on purpose."

'If you're referring to the incident with your human boy, I did not have anything to do with that. I have no control over him, he is not of me.'

"Then how the hell did that happen?"

'Your daughter did it. She's ready to be born, now.'

Sephiroth's anger was amplified by grief. "Please don't make me ask the right questions to get the right answers. Just tell me why she wasn't born like you said she would be. What did I do wrong?"

'Your sons were too strong,' Jenova explained. 'She couldn't survive the first litter. She'll be born in the next one.'

"I'm not having another litter," Sephiroth seethed in rage, but carefully took the tiny tube full of misshapen remains from his bag. He set the little container down on a ledge by his mother, securing his unborn daughter a place to rest. He looked at the little mass of mutated cells... a tiny cluster of veins clutched by a pink tentacle. She looked just like her grandma.

"We never die, you know that..." Jenova seemed bemused, 'And you can multiply many more times. You are capable of producing dozens more offspring.'

"Four is all," Sephiroth told her. "That's all."

'At least give your daughter a chance. Just once more?'

"No."

'Please?' A tiny voice called. 'Please, daddy?'

"Don't do this to me," Sephiroth begged, closing his eyes.

'I can bring more sisters and brothers."

"You two are cruel," Sephiroth said, and left the chamber. He closed the door behind him, locked it, and left the reactor without looking at Aerith. He stormed down the metal steps, clanking hard with each enraged footfall.

Aerith followed him outside with her tape recorder poised. "Well? What happened?"

"This place is a morgue. Let's never come back here again," Sephiroth hissed.

"Let's talk about this! Wanna go get some cherry pie from that cafe, again?"

"I'm on a diet," Sephiroth said, climbing back up into the helicopter.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Daddy?" Tommy called softly, obviously in need of Cloud's help with his buttons.

Cloud was busy trying to disentangle Zacky's little fingers from Jamie's buttons, as he was having a great time undoing all of his brother's work. Cloud took one of Zacky's hands and slapped it sternly, to which the little blonde brat threw back his head and wailed.

Tommy moved softly over to Lucas, motioning to his buttons. "Can you help?"

"I can do mine!" Lucas declared petulantly, every ounce of three-year-old brattiness on display. "Why can't you do yours?"

"He's at the shallow end of the jeans pool!" Zacky hollered, obviously over his disciplinary angst.

"Where did you hear that?" Cloud clucked, scooping him off the floor.

"Uncle Zack!" Zacky gushed over his patron saint.

The constant commotion that was the boys' bedroom didn't stop or slow for one moment, and Tommy's problem was forgotten as soon as it was mentioned.

Sephiroth touched Tommy by the shoulder. He sat on his son's tiny bed and pulled the boy to stand between his legs. He manually turned him around and began to slowly do his pajama buttons for him. "You have to reverse your hands from what Daddy shows you."

"Reserve it?" Tommy asked, watching intently.

"Reverse it," Sephiroth corrected. "Turn it around. The way Daddy does it is different from the way we have to do it."

"We?" Tommy questioned softly.

Sephiroth took Tommy's tiny hands in his own. "Let's say your right hand gets into a big fight with your left hand. Who would win?"

"This hand?" Tommy hesitantly guessed, lifting his left one, although Sephiroth knew he knew that it was the correct answer from performing even the simplest of tasks as a lefty.

"It would win because it's stronger. Daddy and your brothers are different, their right hands are stronger. But you and me are just alike."

"We are," Tommy nodded. Sephiroth peered down and looked at his son's face. Out of all of the mutants, he favored Sephiroth the most. Favor was a drastic understatement, however. If he were Tommy, he would have elbowed himself right in the 'nads for creating an exact replica

But with pure naivety, love, and trust, Tommy was for some reason happy about being just like his dad.

Sephiroth left a few buttons undone and Tommy turned around to clumsily complete them. After the last button, Tommy looked up for some sort of approval, and Sephiroth nodded. "Good. It'll get easier as you go."

Tommy touched the buttons that Sephiroth had done for him, some sort of emotion creeping into his rounded, neon green eyes. Before Sephiroth could wonder what was wrong, Tommy's little arms were locked around his waist.

"Sorry, Dad. Sorry!"

Sephiroth bent down low to return the embrace around the little boy, very confused. "What for?"

Out of the four of his sons, Tommy looked the most like him, yet interacted the least with him. He was the shy child of the litter. He seemed more content to be in Cloud's lap, often lacking the confidence to even raise his fiercely glowing green eyes to meet Sephiroth's. He didn't ignore Tommy per say, but at that moment he was ashamed of how unfamiliar his tiny, fragile body felt in his arms.

He leaned back to look down at him, and the little face turned up. Quiet, emotional Tommy stuttered hesitantly before making a confession : "This morning, before you went to work? Remember when Daddy said we could have pop tarts for breakfast, but then you said we couldn't have pop tarts for breakfast, so then Daddy gave us oatmeal instead? After you left, I said you were mean. You're not mean, Dad! I'm sorry I said that!"

Sephiroth was stricken speechless for a moment as his heart swelled with love for the little boy. Tommy wilted a little against him, misinterpreting the expression on his father's face and obviously preparing for some sort of punishment or strict words.

Instead, Sephiroth smiled. "I am mean, though."

Tommy released a gasping smile of relief, but then shook his head violently. "Nuh uh!"

"Yeah, I am. You see, it's very mean of me to do this."

Sephiroth forced his wiggling thumbs into Tommy's armpits. For a moment, he thought he'd hit a dud of a tickle spot, but really, his identical son was in complete shock. Once it hit him what was happening, he let out a scream that could have woken the dead.

Tommy quickly became hysterical, but Sephiroth refused to release him. Instead, he swept an arm under his knees and rolled him up into his arms, planting a rough kiss on his forehead. "Next time you want pop tarts and I'm being mean, just say, 'Hey asshole, let us have pop tarts.'"

Lucas was only too happy to oblige, and ran over to shout, "Hey asshole! Let us have pop tarts!"

"Nobody's talking to you," Sephiroth growled, gently knocking the white-haired child over with a socked foot, sending him rolling back over to Cloud. He turned his attention back to Tommy, who was happy but obviously nervous in his more unpredictable father's arms. Sephiroth grinned at his little reflection. "… Next time you're craving pop tarts, what are you gonna say?"

Tommy giggled and shook his head violently.

Sephiroth winced a little. "You know Cloud, I was never really convinced that this one was ours. You think maybe this is someone else's who got mixed in? Should we give him back to the lab?"

"Noooo!" Tommy squealed. The boys hated going to the lab.

"Tell me what you'll say when you want pop tarts, or I'm throwing you out of my house right now."

Tommy was giggling so severely he could barely complete the sentence. "Hey… asshole! Let us have pop tarts!"

"Alright then," Sephiroth nodded, pleased. He dropped Tommy roughly onto the bed, ensuring a few bounces. "Tell Daddy to give them to you tomorrow, just like that. And remind me too, in case I'm grumpy. Which I probably will be."

Tommy nodded happily, and began wiggling under his covers. The other three-year-olds in the room seemed extremely pleased with this news as well. Once Tommy was settled, Sephiroth carefully tucked him in as he'd seen Cloud do nightly, usually when he himself was busy slapping Zacky around or smothering Jamie with pillows.

"Night," Tommy said, his smile small and shy. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Sephiroth said.

"Love you!" Zacky mocked.

"Hey. I love you, too," Sephiroth told him seriously, to which the rambunctious little blonde smiled and shoved his face into his pillow.

"I love you, too, Dad!" Jamie called, kicking his feet under the blanket.

"I love you, too," Sephiroth called out.

"Guess what Dad? I don't love you," Lucas declared snobbishly.

"Well I don't love you either," Sephiroth snorted.

The white haired boy then raised both arms to protest. "I'm just kidding! I really, really love you!"

"I really love you too, Luke," Sephiroth leaned down and kissed him.

"I love you guys, too!" Cloud called, slowly closing the door. "Go to sleep."

The boys then sweetly proclaimed their love for Cloud in turn, then began verbalizing their love for one another. Sephiroth and Cloud both waited by the door, listening to their children talk with almost morbid curiosity. Creatures made entirely of their genes were communicating. What could they possibly have to say to one another?

When Jamie said that he loved Lucas, Lucas said he loved Jamie so much that it made him want to poop. This was the funniest thing any of the boys had ever heard in their lives. Tommy was hiccuping from laughter, while Zacky roared above all the rest.

Suddenly the door tore open and Jamie bumped into Sephiroth's knees, his little fair face flushed bright with humor. The ditziest child of the bunch seemed pleasantly surprised to find his fathers both standing there. "Hey! Guess what Lucas said, Lucas said that – "

"We know what Lucas said, you're all loud enough to erode granite!" Cloud said sternly, and it was no doubt something that was said to him when he was a child in Nibelheim. "Now back to bed!"

Jaime laughed and turned to gallop back to his bed. Cloud gave them all a fierce warning, "I don't wanna hear any more laughing. If I hear laughing, you're all sleeping in your own rooms. I mean it!"

There was a chorus of grief stricken children swearing that they would be quiet.

After closing the door, Cloud stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and leaned against the wall, looking happy but exhausted. "…You wound them up."

Sephiroth shrugged a shoulder. "I like them better that way."

"... You always get to be the good cop."

"I love it that you're the bad cop."

Cloud giggled innocently. "You think they buy it?"

"Fuck, I buy it!… You're such a commanding man…" Sephiroth whispered, kissing Cloud's neck.

Cloud smiled and leaned into Sephiroth, pulling him down the hallway and shutting off lights as he went. He didn't give Sephiroth much of a choice in the matter. He tugged him into their bedroom and closed the door behind them.

"I need you..." Cloud declared, pulling his hoodie over his head. He shook his hair out and paused for a moment before melting against Sephiroth.

They were used to quick, quiet, efficient. Bang bang, get on, get off, get out. It was all they had time for, save for the few times the boys had been taken by Cloud's family for a bonding holiday. Once Mrs. Strife was made aware of the babies, she was one of the most involved grandmothers the world had ever seen. She didn't even mind that they weren't brunette, or that they hadn't come from a heterosexual union... she was just pleased that Cloud had a family of his own.

On that first weekend without the little ones, they barely knew what to do with themselves, it was like relearning how to relax again and simply make love. Unfortunately, they'd perfected it again just in time for the boys' return. And all four wanted to sleep in the Daddy bed for the next few nights to recover from their separation anxiety.

Most nights, Sephiroth and Cloud had time for one lingering kiss before sleep overwhelmed them. In the blink of an eye it was time to get up. Sephiroth jumped in the shower while Cloud let the Manny du jour in. The sounds of stirring would wake up the little ones, who would file out to storm the kitchen in search of food.

Then Sephiroth would make breakfast while Cloud took a shower. When Cloud was out, Sephiroth usually went to work with merely a loving glance goodbye – and that was when he could manage even that. Cloud's day revolved around keeping the kids clean, fed, safe, and entertained. Sephiroth either had a predictable office day, or was called out to a mission.

Cloud always hated when Sephiroth was away on missions, but even more so now. It was terribly lonely in their bed at night without him. He was tempted to pull a couple of the boys into bed with him to keep him company, but that was something his mother had done to him when he was a child. He vowed to never pull a child into bed to ease his own fear and loneliness. It should be strictly the other way around.

He had to be the strong one. A dark room at night wasn't allowed to make him feel isolated, lonely, or even scared anymore. He simply cuddled Sephiroth's pillow and went to sleep.

Times when Sephiroth had any sort of leave, Cloud usually took at least a portion to train. Getting out, getting sweaty and dirty and sore, was a wonderful relief. He was able to remind himself of his long term career goals, and of his current standing. A third class SOLDIER was still a SOLDIER. He might not be working on moving up the ranks yet, but one day he would.

But for then, at that time, it was the best they could do.

"Slow down," Cloud begged, cupped Sephiroth's hands on his skin. "Just a little."

Sephiroth did, kneading Cloud's hips in his hands. His lover was so pliant and lovely pressed against him, but his pretty eyes were dimmed slightly. He was tired. Sephiroth's instincts told him to speed up so his pretty blonde could get as much rest as possible, but if he wanted it slow he could gladly do that for him.

"Cloud…" Sephiroth murmured, almost dancing against him in the dark. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh please not now," Cloud whispered, and broke away. He went to the bed and laid down, making himself available and reaching out.

Sephiroth crawled between his legs, kissing him. "It's just… something that I can't get off my mind. And it's been with me for a long time."

"I hate talking while we're making love," Cloud frowned.

"I want another one," Sephiroth whispered against his ear anyways.

"Another what?"

"They're going to preschool next year. You're going to full time duty. I want to retire. I want more."

"Really?..." Cloud's eyes went wide in the dark. "Me too!"

"Are you fucking serious?" Sephiroth asked, actually a little offended that the man was agreeing to this insane plan.

"Oh God. Were you kidding? I was just kidding, too!" Cloud grimaced, waiting for a punch in the face from his unpredictable partner.

"I was... half serious," Sephiroth admitted. "I just wanted to know what you thought."

"... Let's think about it. We can talk about it when they start preschool?" Cloud suggested.

"Can we do it in a test tube, this time?"

"I would prefer it," Cloud nodded.

Sephiroth smirked. "... We're not gonna do it."

Cloud gave him a half smile. "... No. But... it's fun to think about. I like the idea of you retiring and stay home with babies."

"I could do that even without babies. If you're gonna be full time, someone should be here with the boys."

"You should be home with them."

"Well if I'm gonna be here anyways, we might as well have more kids," Sephiroth grinned.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Are we really talking about this?"

"Let's talk about it next year."

"... Next year," Cloud agreed.

Two years later, Sephiroth retired from the position of General and took a step down to a first class SOLDIER in the reserve. With the help of Aerith, a test tube, Cloud's frozen sperm, and Sephiroth's mysterious doobie, a manipulative little calamity named Jenova Strife was born.

With her, she brought Emma Strife, Lacy Strife, and a little brother they called Vinny. Aerith had never encountered such a thing happening with a test tube birth, and was happy for material for her fifth best selling book.

It seemed Cloud and Sephiroth were doomed with another litter, which was no less demanding and troublesome than the last. But this time, there were four doting big brothers to help feed, play with, and bathe their baby sisters and brother. The big brothers even liked changing diapers, which Sephiroth and Cloud took advantage of to no end.

Just like Jenova said they would, their children quickly grew and multiplied like rabbits. It surprised Sephiroth that none of his sons were homosexual, until the fateful day just after the boys had turned fourteen. Lucas had come home late after school with Aerith, and had literally hid behind her while she broke the bizarre news that Lucas was... pregnant.

"Please don't tell dad!" Lucas had begged Sephiroth. Cloud was always the scarier of the two to their children.

Cloud and Sephiroth had taken Lucas' litter and raised them as their own to allow their son to have a chance at young adulthood. But they were sure to sit all of their sons down to explain the true nature of their bodies, and where they'd all come from. It was a little late, but it was necessary.

The boys were surprised, to say the very least.

Cloud and Sephiroth had been afraid that they didn't have the emotional capacity to raise any more babies, but didn't have a choice by the time Lucas presented them with their first six grandchildren. Going through the delivery with their young teenage son had been one of the hardest things they'd ever had to do as parents. Lucas' litter was the biggest, but by far the easiest to raise with three blonde, bubbly, ten-year-old girls in the house to eagerly help them.

Even their boys who fell in love with human women were producing at least two at a time, owing the odd luck to a family curse. No amount of condoms, birth control, or 'pull and pray' could prevent their handsome sons from impregnating their wives and girlfriends. And when their daughters became young women it became common news to Sephiroth and Cloud that they were going to have five more... four more... even seven more grandchildren at a time.

And then little Vinny got knocked up by one of his college professors and decided he loved the feeling of being pregnant, and decided to pursue that as a career instead of Creative Writing. He dropped out and moved in with the professor, and kept getting pregnant over... and over... and over again. Vinny had thirteen by the time he was through, and fully expected Sephiroth and Cloud to help him out.

Which they did. Much like Lucas had made a career of being pregnant, Sephiroth and Cloud's career became helping their children with their children. And then the day came when one of Lucas' litter, the rebellious punk rocker Gabby Strife was pregnant with three great-grandchildren at the tender age of thirteen.

Cloud was a great-grandfather at forty-six-years-old. Sometimes in bed at night, he would turn to Sephiroth and say, "You just had sex with a great-grandpa."

"So did you," Sephiroth would reply.

Sephiroth and Cloud would have sex with great-great-great-grandpas before they died. Long after they were gone, their cells spread throughout the planet. The lineage they created rose up to change the human race into something... else. Not better, but different.

They steered the planet away from the oppressive Sun, and onto greater destinations than any of them ever dreamed of.

-.-.-.-.-. The End -.-.-.-.-.-

A/N

1 - MPREG

2 - I love a happy ending ;_;

3 - Thanks for all the kind reviews, hope you enjoyed the story!


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